About 36,000 people suffer disrupted water supply

Thousands of people have had problems with their water supply after two pipes burst in North Lincolnshire overnight.

Anglian Water said 36,000 customers in Scunthorpe and the surrounding area were impacted when the burst pipes temporarily stopped water flowing into the local storage reservoir.

The company said it was delivering bottled water to vulnerable customers and urged people to only use water for essential purposes.

A collection point has also been set up at Scunthorpe United Football Club - but some customers attempting to access the collection point reported queuing for up to two hours.

The affected area also includes Gunness, Kirton in Lindsey and Scawby.

It led to a number of schools having to close for the day, including John Leggott College, Messingham Primary School and St Hugh's School.

A spokesperson for Anglian Water thanked people for their patience and said: "We're really sorry that some customers may be experiencing low water pressure, or even no water at all."

Anglian Water said it became aware of a burst pipe, which feeds the Stonewall Reservoir and supplies part of Scunthorpe, on Wednesday.

A second pipe also burst during the repair work to the first. This resulted in customers "experiencing low pressure, intermittent supplies, or no water" in the early hours of this morning.

In a later update, the firm again apologised for the disruption and said work was under way to fix the second burst water main.

A spokesperson said: "The majority of people's supplies have started to return to normal.

"However, for some customers it's likely to take a little bit longer because it takes time to move water through the pipes and get to everyone's taps once we've repaired the problem."

Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust confirmed Scunthorpe Hospital had not been affected due to the site having its own tanks on site.

In July, the water company introduced its first hosepipe ban in a decade due to "unrelenting" hot and dry conditions, which is still in place for households in North Lincolnshire.

Councillor Rob Waltham, leader of North Lincolnshire Council, said: "Residents are quite rightly angry. They woke up, they wanted to get about their day.

"When you close a school that means parents are inconvenienced, grandparents are drafted in to try and look after children.

"It's this short notice stuff that people get very upset about and quite understandably."

As a result of the incident, Waltham said he was demanding an urgent meeting with the water company's bosses to discuss the area's infrastructure and preventative work to ensure "this is not going to be a regular occurrence".

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