Essex town without water due to large burst water main

Bottled water stations were set up in Witham after a burst water main cut off the town's supply.

Essex and Suffolk Water, which manage the town's water, first reported an issue at around 11.20am on Wednesday, 1 January.

Nearly three hours later engineers were still working on fixing the pipe, with the company admitting it was taking longer than expected.

However, just before 4pm the utility company confirmed that pressure had been restored.

A statement from the company after the problem was fixed said:

“All our customers in the Witham area should now be back on supply following the earlier burst to a large water main.

"Some may continue to experience low pressure while the network returns to normal over the next few hours.

“We’d like to apologise for the inconvenience caused to customers in the affected area and thank them for their patience and understanding.”

On social media, residents said that shops in the area had run out of bottled water.

Posting on Twitter, Mike Yardley said: "My town - Witham in Essex - begins [2020] with no water. Bottled water has now sold out..."