Thousands of people affected by water supply issue

Thousands of people in North Lincolnshire have been affected by water supply issues due to burst pipes overnight.

A number of schools have been closed for the day, including John Leggott College, Messingham Primary School and St Hugh's School.

Anglian Water said 36,000 customers in Scunthorpe and the surrounding area were impacted after two pipes burst, which temporarily stopped water flowing into the local storage reservoir.

A spokesperson thanked people for their patience and said: "We're really sorry that some customers may be experiencing low water pressure, or even no water at all."

The affected area also includes Gunness, Kirton in Lindsey and Scawby.

Anglian Water said it became aware of a burst pipe, which feeds the Stonewall Reservoir and supplies part of Scunthorpe, on Wednesday.

A second pipe also burst during the repair work to the first. This resulted in customers "experiencing low pressure, intermittent supplies, or no water" in the early hours of this morning.

It said the first pipe had been temporarily repaired and water was flowing back into the network, while work continued on the second pipe.

The spokesperson added: "There is currently no confirmed timescale for full restoration. Even once repairs are completed, it will take time for the Stonewall Reservoir to refill and for water to move through the network."

It warned customers could face further disruption while the system recovered and said there was a risk they could lose supply later or overnight if levels continued to fall.

The company said it was delivering bottled water to vulnerable customers and urged people to only use water for essential purposes.

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust confirmed Scunthorpe Hospital had not been affected due to the site having its own tanks on site.

In July, the water company introduced its first hosepipe ban in a decade due to "unrelenting" hot and dry conditions, which is still in place for households in North Lincolnshire.

Councillor Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said: "Residents are quite rightly angry. They woke up, they wanted to get about their day.

"When you close a school that means parents are inconvenienced, grandparents are drafted in to try and look after children.

"It's this short notice stuff that people get very upset about and quite understandably."

As a result of the incident, Waltham said he was demanding an urgent meeting with the water company's bosses to discuss the area's infrastructure and preventative work to ensure "this is not going to be a regular occurrence".

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