Burst pipe repaired after thousands lose water

A burst pipe, which has affected the supply to thousands of homes since Tuesday night, has been "successfully repaired", a water company has said.

The leak, in a field next to Oxford Road at Eynsham, Oxfordshire, affected those in the OX7, OX18, OX28, OX29, GL7 postcodes.

Thames Water said its teams were "currently pressure testing the repair and carefully putting water back into the network".

In a Facebook post, the Liberal Democrat MP for Witney, Charlie Maynard, said an emergency bottled water station had been shut for an hour because of a missing forklift truck operator.

In its latest update, Thames Water said it would "continue working overnight to restore water supplies as quickly and safely as possible while the network continues to refill and stabilise".

On Thursday, bottled water was being provided at three stations set up at Sainsbury's in Witney, UE Roasters in Witney and Morrisons in Carterton.

The stations closed at 21:00 GMT, the firm said.

However, Maynard said the Sainsbury's site would be open until 22:00.

Posting about problems at the site, he said: "At least an hour of zero water being handed out because they were missing the forklift truck operator to get the water off the truck. Ugh!!"

Thames Water previously said additional staff were being brought in and "special measures" were in place to keep hospitals supplied.

The damaged pipe had been isolated on Wednesday, but excavation to get to it had proved more difficult than expected "due to excessive groundwater", the firm added.

It thanked customers for their patience.

Among residents picking up bottled water in Witney, one woman told the BBC: "They're very efficient here this morning, very organised, I expected to queue for a long time but it's fine,"

Another said: "It's not a massive issue, because we're getting water that we need. It's just not ideal having to come and collect it."

But one man at the Sainsbury's water station said the burst was "Great Britain in the 21st Century", before adding: "We're falling apart, slowly but surely."

Thames Water said residents who might need extra help while supplies were disrupted should sign up to the company's priority services register.

Carers, friends, or family can also register on behalf of someone they think could benefit from extra support.

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