A burst water main caused extensive damage to homes in part of Peterborough. Residents were forced to leave; back gardens were turned into swimming pools and some households face extensive flood damage.
The emergency began on Sunday evening in the Werrington area of Lincoln Road, and it prompted road closures and a police cordon being put in place.
At least three fire crews were sent to the area to begin the task of pumping away the water.
Up to 20 homes were affected, according to local reports, and Anglian Water sent its emergency customer support unit to advise residents.
“We would like to reassure those customers affected that we will pick up the tab to get things back to normal as quickly as possible,” Anglian Water said in a statement.
“Clean up teams are on site to help but we’d like to sincerely apologise to those customers who have been affected.
“In order to keep our teams and other road users safe while we work, we have needed to close part of Lincoln Road, with a full diversion in place via David’s Lane.”
In an updated statement today ( May 28) Anglian Water says:
“Our technicians are currently on site repairing a burst water main which unfortunately has flooded some properties on Lincoln Road, Peterborough. We’re sorry if this issue disrupted your bank holiday weekend.
“Although no customers are off water, the repair is slightly more complex than originally planned, so we’re estimating that it will take a couple of days to fix. After this, the road will need to be excavated and repaired, so we expect to open the road by the end of this week. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.
“Our customer support unit is on site to offer advice and support for residents in the area. If you think you have been affected, please call our 24 Hour Operational phone line on 03457 145 145 and one of our team members will come out to visit you.”
One resident told the BBC: “We didn’t know how bad it was going to get, that was the nervous thing about it. We didn’t know when it was going to stop.”
Another resident said her the entire downstairs contents of her home – as well as her car – had been damaged.
“It’s been a nightmare, a horrendous experience – not the way you want to spend your Bank Holiday,” she told the BBC.
