Thousands left without water after major pipe bursts

Thousands of homes and businesses in south London have been left without water or have reduced supply after a pipe burst in the Crystal Palace area.

Thames Water has apologised to customers and said engineers had located the source of the leak and were "working to restore water to customers and fix the pipe as soon as possible".

A spokesperson added: "Bottled water will be delivered to customers on our priority services register."

They confirmed this included 11 care homes and 29 schools within the area which had low pressure or no water.

The affected postcodes were SE19, SE20, SE23, SE26, SE27, and SW16, the water supplier said.

"We are sorry to customers in the Crystal Palace area who have experienced low water pressure or no water due to a burst pipe," it said in a statement.

"We have tankers in the area to infuse the network with water, and impacted properties should see their water supply return over the course of the day while our reservoir replenishes."

It added that it was contacting customers in the affected areas who had pre-registered as having special requirements, such as being medically reliant on water, to ensure they were given specific help and support.

Thames Water also confirmed it had set up a bottled water station at Sainsbury's in Southend Lane, SE26 4PU.

It said customers could access updates on the situation via its website.

It is also trying to fix flooding following a different issue at the Crystal Palace Pumping Station and that this was "also adding to the supply problems".

Lambeth Council said it was working to "support impacted communities" in the borough, which included liaising with schools that might face disruption.

It added a distribution hub for all residents impacted by supply issues was being set up.

Locals described the scene after the underground pipe burst on Tuesday and said there were "torrents of dirty water gushing down the street".

Magda told the BBC: "I came home from work at about six o'clock, and I had a What's App from neighbours to say the water was off.

"But, I'm a bit of a contingency planner so I had about 32 litres of bottled water in my garage and so it was fine, we were able to brush our teeth and wash our hands and by this morning, the water was back on."

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