Burst Bristol water main cuts off thousands of homes

Thousands of homes across a city were left without water after a main burst, flooding a nearby road.

Homes across several postcodes in Bristol had their supplies cut off after the main burst near the A370 in the south of the city.

Parts of the Cumberland Basin road network were shut due to flooding.

Bristol Water said it had successfully isolated the burst main and the majority of customers would have water again "over the next few hours".

The company's Head of Network Operations said at one point 700,000 litres of water was escaping the main every hour.

The company said a 30in (76.2cm) trunk main carrying a "large volume" of water had been damaged.

A Bristol Water spokesperson said that as water supplies return, households could potentially experience "some discolouration".

"In this instance, please run your taps until the water runs clear for a maximum of 30 minutes. If it still doesn't run clear, please wait an hour and repeat the process," they added.

The water supply issues mainly affected the BS3, BS4 and BS5 postcodes of the city.

At around 15:45 BST, Bristol Water said the flooding had forced it to close nearby Clift House Road and Coronation Road.

In a tweet the company told commuters to avoid Jessops Underpass and the surrounding area as some roads were likely to be "incredibly busy" due to the closures.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service sent crews to the scene to help with pumping the excess water into the nearby River Avon.

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