Tailbacks and homes without water after pipe burst

Traffic is queueing on a stretch of the A22, northbound, due to the pipe burst

A burst water main has left homes and a school in parts of East Sussex without water, and traffic congestion on the roads.

Motorists became stuck in tailbacks after the A22 northbound, between Hailsham Country Park and Lower Dicker, was closed to allow engineers to repair the pipe at that location.

And homes and other premises in the local area have been left without water, including Hellingly Community Primary School which has been closed.

South East Water said on Wednesday morning that it was trying to fix the outage as quickly as possible, but could not confirm when water supplies would return.

Hailsham and a number of surrounding areas are affected by the burst

Year 6 children at Hellingly school have been told to attend to sit their national curriculum tests, often known as Sats. But pupils must be collected at 12.00 BST.

All other children have been told they must stay at home.

The Sats breakfast club at the school has been cancelled. Children were told to bring “a filled water bottle or two” with them for the exams.

The local area has been affected by water supply issues since Monday evening, but the problem became more severe overnight on Tuesday.

South East Water has been contacted for an updated comment.