Thames Water: burst water pipe in Hampton results in school closures and lack of water

12 June 2019, 16:07 | Updated: 12 June 2019, 16:08

Around 100,000 properties and schools in south and west London have lost water after a pipe burst in Hampton

Schools across London have been forced to close after a burst pipe in Hampton have left at least 100,000 properties without running water.

Homes, schools and businesses in Kingston, Twickenham, Hampton and Hounslow have been left without running water after the pipe burst on Wednesday morning.

Thames Water has said that at least 100,000 properties have been affected, with many having low pressure or no water at all while their engineers work to fix it.

Teddington Memorial Hospital and Teddington Health & Social Care Centre have been forced to cancel their clinics, and a number of schools have closed.

A spokesperson for Thames Water said: “We’re pumping water into our pipe network from other areas to get supplies back to normal for as many of our customers as we can and are looking at providing bottled water for those who will be affected for longer."

The company also tweeted: "We’re sorry to anyone whose water supply has been affected by a burst on a large pipe at our water works in Hampton.

"A team of engineers are there investigating and we have more experts planning how to get water back on for our customers as soon as we possibly can."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “It is unacceptable that so many people are left without water for several hours with little or no information on when supplies will be restored.

“My team at City Hall is liaising with Thames Water, emergency services and borough officials. We expect Thames Water to get a grip on this as soon as possible and to compensate all of those affected.”

A number of affected schools have been forced to close today.

St Richard Reynolds school in west London tweeted: "PRIMARY SCHOOL CLOSURE: We currently have no water and therefore are having to close the Primary school. Parents should come to the primary playground where children will be ready for collection from 10.30am Please notify the Office if someone else will be collecting your child."

And Bishopsgate School in south east London wrote: "SCHOOL CLOSURE - Due to a major Thames Water main burst, the School water supply has failed, meaning that toilet facilities, catering, etc. are unavailable. Therefore, we are forced to follow a number of local schools in closing the School with immediate effect."

Hampton Court Palace have also been affected by water issues, and released a statement saying: "We have contingency plans in place and will be monitoring the situation throughout the day.”