Burst water mains forces schools to shut in Penwortham, Longton and Hutton as thousands of homes left without water

United Utilities said a pipe has burst in Fishergate Hill, Preston and repair work is now under way, but a number of schools have already confirmed they will not open today.

It is believed thousands of homes are affected across Penwortham, Longton, Hutton and Whitestake with households left without water or low pressure.

A spokesperson for United Utilities said: “We have found the cause of no water or low pressure to be a burst on Fishergate Hill.

"Our team are on their way to site and will be starting the repair as quickly as possible.

“Sorry for any inconvenience, we hope to have things back to normal soon.”

In an update at 11:50am, United Utilities confirmed that water supplies had been restored to all customers.

They also said engineers had begun the process of digging down to repair the damaged water pipe.

Grant Batty, United Utilities Water Services Director, said: “We’re very sorry for the disruption this may have caused this morning. Our teams responded quickly and water started to come back on again within a few hours.

“Some customers may notice that their water looks slightly discoloured when it first comes back on. This can happen after we change the way water flows through the pipe network in order to bypass a burst, because sometimes naturally-occurring sediment can become disturbed in the system.

“This is only temporary, and it will gradually clear if people run the kitchen tap at a slow trickle. While the water might not look quite the same as usual for a short time, people can continue to use it as normal.

“We are continuing to liaise with the local authority while repair work continues on Fishergate Hill, and we will do our best to get the road back open as quickly as possible.”

School closures

- Preston St Stephen’s Church of England Primary School

- All Hallows Catholic High School, Penwortham

- Cop Lane Church of England Primary School, Penwortham

- New Longton All Saints’ Church of England Primary School

- Penwortham Broad Oak Primary School

- Penwortham Girls’ High School

- Penwortham Middleforth Church of England Primary School

- Penwortham Primary School

- Penwortham Priory Academy

- St Oswald’s Catholic Primary School, Longton

- St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School, Penwortham