Mains fix under way after water outage

Thousands of homes across five south London boroughs and two Surrey boroughs have had their water supply restored following a burst water main, Thames Water has said.

The company said about 15,000 properties were thought to have been affected on Monday in postcode areas across Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Wandsworth in London, as well as in Elmbridge and Spelthorne in Surrey.

The company said its engineers were working on a permanent repair after isolating the burst main in West Molesey.

But it described the repair as "complex" and said some trees had to be removed to access the broken pipe.

A spokesperson for Thames Water said: "All customers remain in supply and we are continuing to work on repairing the burst pipe in Molesey.

"We would like to thank customers for their patience."

Previously, the company said an estimated 15,000 properties were affected on Monday morning but that fell to 6,000 as work on the broken pipe began.

Kathy, from East Molesey, said her water supply was disrupted and football pitches near her home were flooded.

"I woke up very early this (Monday) morning and the water pressure was low so I filled a load of saucepans. It went off altogether at about 9am," she said.

Kathy, who was recently given Thames Water-branded rubber ducks at a summer fair in Surbiton, described the plastic toys as a "waste of money" and placed them on the flooded football pitch on Monday to illustrate her dissatisfaction.

Paul Kohler, the MP for Wimbledon, said he had contacted Thames Water for more information after reports of the water outage across Wimbledon, New Malden, Raynes Park and Morden, in south London. He told followers on X that he would share any updates he received.

Monica Harding, the MP for Esher and Walton, said: "We need an urgent response from Thames Water to get water supplies back on as soon as possible and to protect vulnerable communities.

"Once the water is flowing again, we need to establish exactly what happened and why.

"My worry is that decades of underinvestment in our infrastructure and poor regulation may be causing incidences like this.

"Right now, however, the priority must be getting water back in our taps."

Luke Taylor, the MP for Sutton and Cheam, said Thames Water was "no longer fit for purpose", adding: "Every day Thames Water loses 228 Olympic-sized swimming pools worth of water through leaks.

"Most of the time this slow drip of leaks across London costs us money and wastes energy, but today the huge burst pipe in West Molesey means carers can't wash their loved ones, businesses are shut and schools are closed."

Two schools in Surrey said they had to close on Monday due to a lack of water.

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