Rocks Green water cut as mains bursts in road

A burst water main caused part of a busy road in south Shropshire to collapse and left homes and businesses without water for 24 hours.

Part of the A4117 at Rocks Green, near Ludlow, fell away on Friday, and emergency roadworks were set up to make the highway safe.

Severn Trent Water officials have claimed the main burst on Wednesday and again on Friday causing the damage to the road.

It left a number of homes and the Nelson Inn in the village without running water. Alan Powell, pub landlord, said he was forced to close the kitchens.

He added no-one had received any notification about the work and said he would be writing to Severn Trent Water for an explanation. Contractors were completing repairs today.

Mr Powell said: "We lost water for 24 hours - it was pretty much all day Friday. We couldn't put on any food or do any washing up as we had no running water so we did lose some trade.

"No-one notified us at all during the day, and we are going to be writing to Severn Trent about this."

Rachel Blackman, spokesman for Severn Trent Water, said: "There was a burst on Wednesday morning and contractors carried out repairs, but when we recharged the system the connection broke again."

She apologised for any inconvenience.