Burst water main disrupts supply for 10,000 customers

The company said the pipe burst near Blackwater

Up to 10,000 homes and businesses on the Isle of Wight have been left with little or no water after a major pipe burst.

People in Shanklin, Wroxall, Newchurch, Alverstone and Rookley have been affected.

Southern Water said the main at Blackwater, near the River Medina, had burst and impacted Cooks Castle Reservoir.

The water firm said: "...because our tankers are injecting water directly into the network, we are currently restoring supply to around half of those [10,000] addresses."

"This is a complex repair, so restoring supply to the remaining properties could take some time, late into this evening," it added.

A bottled water station opened on Thursday night at Amazon World Zoo in Newchurch, near Sandown, and deliveries are being arranged for vulnerable customers on the water company's priority services register.