Burst water main in Oxford floods dual carriageway and leaves thousands without water

• Video credit: Karla Malin

Thousands in Oxford have been left without water this morning after a major water pipe burst.

The pipe, which is 24 inches in diameter, burst on the Heyford Hill roundabout flooding the city's ring road.

Thames Water, along with Thames Valley Police and Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue service are in attendance and are in the process of closing affected roads.

Traffic monitoring service, TomTom, reported queues of nearly an hour on several roads in the city - as police urged people not to travel in the area.

Resident Lynn Davis said: "The first thing I knew, I didn't have any water.

"I went to wash my hands, no water came out and then I saw on Whatsapp that there was a huge lot of water coming out at Heyford Hill Lane.

"I have had to cancel my work today and I've come down here to see what's happening and I can see that the traffic is gridlocked everywhere. People are telling me they can't go anywhere or do anything."

• Resident Lynn Davis is without water

Thames Water told ITV Meridian it is in the process of tackling the burst and will be contacting its priority customers in due course.

A spokesperson said: "We’re sorry to customers who have no water or lower pressure than normal this morning due to a burst pipe on Heyford Hill, OX4.

"Our engineers are investigating and we’ll make sure the water is back on as soon as possible.

"In the meantime we’re pro-actively contacting everyone in the affected area who has pre-registered with us as having special requirements, such as being medically reliant on water, so we can make sure we give them the help and support they need.”

Oxfordshire County Council's Traffic Management Team warned motorists of hazardous conditions and urged them to avoid the area.

Meanwhile the Oxford Bus Company said it was seeing "severe unprecedented delays" to its services due to the burst.

In a statement Thames Valley Police warned of significant disruption that will last for much of Tuesday.

The force said: "There is currently major traffic disruption in and around #Oxford due to a burst water pipe on the Eastern bypass, Heyford Hill.

"We recommend that you avoid the area. There are significant delays on the #A34 in both directions. Delays are likely to remain throughout the day."