Water restored to 30,000 Liverpool and Sefton homes after burst pipe

UU said it had "already started to automatically process compensation to those affected"

Thousands of people left without water due to a burst mains pipe have had their supplies restored, a water firm has confirmed.

The mains pipe burst on Church Road, Liverpool, on Saturday, leading to water tankers and free bottle stations being set up.

About 30,000 properties were initially affected with the majority reconnected on Sunday.

United Utilities (UU) said the final 3,000 homes had now been reconnected.

A company spokeswoman said the cause of the burst was not known.

'Completely unacceptable'

Engineers worked throughout the weekend to repair the 2ft (60cm) diameter burst pipe, which affected homes in North Liverpool and South Sefton.

Sefton Council described the operation as "very complex" due to the size of the water main and other utility services in the area.

More than 120,000 bottles of water were handed out at water stations and and UU's priority service customers and nursing homes received 10,000 bottles.

The mains pipe burst on Church Road on Saturday

Long queues were seen in Crosby after free bottled water stations were set up

UU incident manager Charmian Abbott said the firm had to "extend the excavation" to replace a 20ft (6m) section.

Any household left without water for more than 12 hours would be contacted automatically regarding compensation.

On Sunday, Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram tweeted that the situation residents faced was "completely unacceptable".

Mr Rotheram said he would meet UU to investigate the incident.

The mayor added that he - alongside Bootle MP Peter Dowd and Sefton Central's Bill Esterson - would ask UU to make a donation to a local food bank as a gesture of goodwill.

Offering "sincere apologies", UU said it had already started to process compensation to those affected.

A spokesman said 285,000 messages had been sent out across the weekend to keep customers informed, as well as updates on the UU website and social media.

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