Telford schools closed after water mains burst
Two schools were forced to close and about 2,000 homes were left without water for more than four hours today when a mains pipe burst and hit supplies across Telford.
Water supplies were lost early this morning following the burst. Severn Trent spokeswoman Sarah McArthur said the first reports of loss of supply began coming into the company at about 8.30am.
She said the problem affected the TF2 and TF3 postcode areas of Telford, which include Donnington, Ketley, St Georges, Oakengates, Stirchley, Brookside, The Rock, Stafford Park and the town centre, and approximately 2,000 homes were left without water.
She said the burst was traced to a field 300 metres off the A464 Holyhead Road near Boningale.
Miss McArthur said a team of engineers was dispatched and they worked throughout the morning to repair the burst and get customers' supply back on.
She said: "We located the burst and a team of engineers worked to isolate the damaged main.
"They managed to repair the main at about 12.30pm and supplies were restored soon afterwards. There should be no further impact on customers once the network has refilled."
Miss McArthur apologised for the inconvenience the disruption caused.
Telford & Wrekin Council spokesman Nigel Newman said the loss of water supply forced the closure today of Randlay and Redhill primary schools.
Mr Newman said: "Parents were informed at Randlay and Redhill as they dropped their children off this morning. Now that the main has been repaired we hope to have the schools open as normal on Monday."
A water main burst in the same area off the A456 and flooded the road a month ago.
