Thames Water apologises for 'massive' pipe burst

Thames Water has "profusely apologised" for what it called a "massive" mains water pipe burst which caused flooding overnight in west London.

Thousands of people have been left with no water or low water pressure in the Shepherd's Bush, Holland Park, Kensington and Notting Hill areas following the incident.

Martin Padley, water director for Thames Water, told BBC London: "We think about 600 litres a second was leaving the hole – a huge amount of water that has unfortunately led to flooding."

The area around the Holland Park roundabout was submerged in water up to 3ft (1m) deep at about 03:55 GMT on Wednesday after the pipe burst at approximately 02:00.

About 40 firefighters dealt with the flooding in the early hours of the morning and used an inflatable rescue boat to evacuate nearby homes.

Padley said Thames Water was trying to balance the flooding with protecting supply to most of its customers.

He added: "There are quite a lot of people in various postcodes with no or low water supply.

"There are about 2,000 customers we believe in current supply interruption and many more with low pressure."

Julia Talbot, whose house in Lorne Gardens was flooded, said "the entire of our ground floor is just gone... I don't think it's sunk in just yet".

She said she was "evacuated upwards" by firefighters and "had to walk all the way across the roof, was taken down the back of the building and then we were taken into the hotel next door".

Talbot said she was "devastated" as it was not the first time the property had flooded.

"Why does this keep happening to us?" she said. "It happened in 1980, it happened in the 90s, it happened in 2021 and it's now happened again.

"You must be able to stop this somehow. Where's our flood door? We were promised a flood door.

"That didn't happen. I don't know what that would have done, but it might have done something."

Resident Christina said she noticed there were problems with the supply when she went to get a glass of water.

"There was no water in the kitchen... nothing in the bathroom or the shower," she said.

Christina added her personal trainer then called to say her gym was closed due to no water supply.

"I thought it was quite a localised thing, it was just our building… but actually I looked out the window and saw chaos," she said.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) station commander Kris Seymour said: "A burst 30-inch water main caused flooding up to 1m deep, affecting more than 50 homes and a hotel over a one mile area."

He added: "Firefighters used specialist equipment, including an inflatable rescue boat to evacuate affected residents, and flood barriers to divert flood water, which has now subsided."

LFB said the incident was "over for firefighters" by 05:23 and residents were taken to a local hotel.

There continue to be road closures in place around Holland Park roundabout.

Elizabeth Campbell, leader of Kensington and Chelsea Council, said: "It is important we understand why an area was flooded so quickly and with such devastating consequences for residents, especially when the council has made several representations to organisations in the area about providing flood defences.

"We will be speaking to all authorities involved over the coming days."

Joe Powell, MP for Kensington and Bayswater, said the flooding was "shocking".

He added: "I am already in touch with many residents who have been affected and remain in constant contact with the police and Thames Water."

Powell said anyone in need of assistance should contact him.

Thames Water said it might take days to repair the broken pipe and customers in the following postcodes may experience low pressure or no water:

• W1C, W1F, W1G, W1H, W1K
• W1S, W1T, W1U, W1W
• W1, W2, W3, W4
• W6, W8, W9, W10
• W11, W12, and W14

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