Mountain Ash pub: Pipes burst with water pouring from ceiling

A pub faces a huge clean up operation after pipes burst, with water pouring from the ceiling and flooding its dining room.

Richard McGill, manager of The George in Mountain Ash, opened up on Saturday morning to the sound of rushing water.

"It's a total mess," he said. "My partner could hear running water and thought it must be the dishwasher or something."

Welsh Water said there had been a number of leaks due a "rapid thaw".

Freezing temperatures were expected to make way for prolonged rain from Sunday evening across parts of Wales, according a Met Office weather warning.

Mr McGill said: "The suspended roof has gone, the air conditioning, the furniture, the carpets, the walls, skirting boards.

"Everything has been annihilated by water."

He said he called out a plumber who found three bursts in a cold water pipe running above the suspended ceiling and another in a hot water pipe.

Mr McGill said he had managed to keep the pub open by using other rooms for Sunday lunches but feared the restaurant could be out of action for a while.

"It's going to be a month or two before we can get the room back," he said.

Mr McGill, who took over the pub in Rhondda Cynon Taf with his partner four months ago, said he hoped to be able to continue to operate over the busy festive period while repairs were being carried out.

"We had great support from people," he added.

Welsh Water said it was aware of burst pipes across its network due to a "rapid thaw" following prolonged freezing temperatures.

It said the thaw had led to ground movement which had caused a large number of leaks "across our network and on our customers' properties".

"But, so far, the majority of calls has been from customers with frozen supply pipes," it added.