Zoo closed as water outage hits 1,500 properties

South East Water said its technicians were working to restore supplies in the Eastbourne area

Two burst pipes forced a zoo to close and left hundreds of residents without water in East Sussex.

South East Water said 1,500 properties in and around Polegate and Eastbourne could have experienced no water or low pressure on Wednesday.

Shortly before 17:00 BST, South East Water incident manager Don Knight said both bursts, in Milton Street, Polegate and Hazelwood Avenue, Eastbourne, had been repaired.

Drusillas Park in Alfriston was forced to close for the day because of the issue, although water returned to the site in the afternoon.

Mr Knight said: “We are carefully restoring the network to minimise the risk of further bursts or air locks and all customers should have their drinking water supplies restored early this evening."

People in the area have been told their water may appear cloudy or "slightly discoloured", but are urged to let their tap run for a "few minutes" until it clears.

Bottled water was being distributed and South East Water said a bottled water station at Eastbourne Rugby Football Club in Park Avenue would remain open until 21:00.

South East Water supplies 2.2 million customers in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Berkshire.

It was the worst performer for water supply interruptions in England and Wales, regulator Ofwat said in November.