Burst water main leads to shop and school closures

A burst water main caused flooding and left schools, businesses and residents with little or no water supply.

Anglian Water said customers in Bourne, Lincolnshire, and the surrounding areas may have low water pressure or no water at all until the problem was fixed.

Bourne Grammar School, Willoughby A Priory Academy and Bourne Westfield Primary Academy confirmed they were closed on Thursday, while one business had to close due to flooding.

The water company said its team were working hard to resolve the problem "as soon as possible".

Carrie Stringer, who owns Stringer's Home Decorating Centre on Manning Road, had to close her shop.

"Even though they had road closed signs on both ends people have been coming round them and driving through," she said.

"It just brings all the water up here and causes some inconvenience.

"Luckily, it hasn't got into the shop."

Ms Stringer also said that the flooding "happens every year, maybe sometimes twice or three times".

In an update on its website, Anglian Water said it anticipated services being restored by 04:00 GMT on Friday.

A spokesperson said: "We're really sorry for the inconvenience this is causing. Thanks for bearing with us while we get things back to normal."

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