Wrestlingworth residents left without water for more than a day following burst main

Anglian Water has been blasted after a burst pipe left people without water for nearly two days.

A water main in Wrestlingworth burst on Saturday (August 9) – impacting roads including The High Street and Randalls Close.

Residents in Wrestlingworth were left without their water supply for 36 hours following a burst main in the High Street

placeholder image — Residents in Wrestlingworth were left without their water supply for 36 hours following a burst main in the High Street

But while the problem was resolved in the early hours of Monday, August 10, leader of Central Bedfordshire Council hit out at the company, as the county is currently in the grip of drought.

Expressing his frustration, Adam Zerny said: “It took the best part of a day for Anglian Water to even provide drinking water to residents.

“For most of that time, huge amounts of water have been wasted, and residents without a household supply have had to watch it gushing away into the brook.

“It is not a good look when we're currently in the middle of a drought and contending with a hosepipe ban for which Anglian Water threatens a £1,000 fine on those who break the rules.”

He claimed that Anglian Water told him bottled water was delivered to customers on Saturday.

And he said the repair team had hit issues in the excavation due to the water main being encased in concrete."

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: “During periods of hot weather, the high temperatures can cause ground movement that results in an increase of burst water mains or leaks.

“Our teams continue working hard through the hot weather to prioritise repairs that are having the greatest impact on customers' water supplies and those resulting in the highest water loss.

“We'd like to thank our customers in Wrestlingworth for their patience whilst we responded to the challenges created by this period of exceptionally warm weather.”

The Anglian Water hosepipe ban came into force on July 11.

According to the Environment Agency, last month was the driest July for England since records began in 1836, with just 6.5mm of rainfall – 10 per cent of the 1991 to 2020 long-term average for the time of year.

It added that August rainfall totals are expected to remain below normal for the time of year.

And for the three-month period from August to October, there’s a risk of further heatwaves and an increased chance of conditions being drier than average.