Burst pipe cuts off town water

Thousands of people in a north Shropshire town today woke to no water or just a trickle in the pipes.

Up to 3,000 people in Ellesmere were affected by the cut in supply – the latest to affect the town.

Water went off to many homes in the early hours and remained off this morning following a burst water main.

Town centre properties had a reduced water supply throughout the morning but some people living further out of the town had no supply at all.

Severn Trent workers set up roadworks on the Ellesmere to Oswestry road to mend the burst.

Grace Merren, from Severn Trent, said the problems began with a burst main in the Ellesmere area at about 2am.

"We isolated the burst and managed to get everyone back on supply by about 5am. However when the demand for water grew as people started to wake the supply that we had re-zoned to Ellesmere was not enough to cope.

"We apologise to customers for the problems."