Schools closed due to water supply issue

A number of schools across Buckinghamshire have been closed

A number of schools have been closed in Buckinghamshire due to water issues.

The schools in the Aylesbury area said they had been advised by Buckinghamshire Council not to open due to no water on the premises.

The council said about 8,000 homes had been affected.

Thames Water, which supplies the area, said it was experiencing "increased demand".

Matthew Abbott, head teacher of Waddesden School, said: "We have been advised to close the school on Tuesday."

Term ends today for most schools in Buckinghamshire.

The council said it had advised some 15 schools to close:

• Brill Church of England Combined School

• Marsh Gibbon Church of England School

• Steeple Claydon School

• Waddesdon Primary School

• Waddesdon CE secondary school

• Westcott CE Primary School

• Oakley CE Combined School

• Grendon Underwood Combined School

• Haddenham Community Junior School

• Haddenham Community Infant School

• Haddenham St Mary's Church of England School

• Quainton Church of England School

• North Marston CE School

• Twyford CE school

• East Claydon School

The council confirmed the issue had also affected about 8,000 homes and it had advised schools to close as they may "lose water supply".

A spokeswoman said the council believed the water issue had been resolved, but as closures were put in place on Monday, it expected the schools to remain shut.

A Thames Water spokeswoman said: "We’re seeing increased demand as well as more leaking or burst pipes as a result of the increase in temperatures following the recent cold weather.

"As a precaution we’ve advised that this may impact supplies in the Aylesbury Vale area.

"We have contingency plans in place and we’ve increased the number of teams available to fix leaks across our region."

Non-essential work had been postponed, she added.