Traffic lights in place while engineers fix burst main in Leighton Buzzard that has caused schools and businesses to close

Anglian Water is working to repair the main, which is reported to be near the Stanbridge Road, Billington Road and A4012 roundabout, and traffic lights are in place on the junction of Stanbridge Road and Lake Street whilst engineers are on site.

The estimated restoration time is 4pm, but already Leighton Middle School and Mary Bassett Lower School have had to close.

Salisbury House Surgery, Bassett Road Surgery, and Leighton Road Surgery have all posted messages on their websites stating: “We have no running water at present due to a local burst water main. Please bare with us – we will run as near normal a service as possible.

“However, be mindful that we have no usable toilet facilities and traffic flows in the town are extremely congested – please also allow extra time to get to your appointment.”

Leighton-Linslade Town Council has also posted a message on its Facebook page: “There is a burst water main in the centre of Leighton Buzzard resulting in the Multi Story Toilets in town having no water, along with many local businesses, homes and schools.”

350 customers have been affected, including those in the town centre. The furthest affected points are Harrow Road (near Stanbridge Road), Digby Road and Queen Street (near Heath Road), Beaudesert, Church Street, Albany Road, West Street and Pulford Road. However, Pulford Lower School is still open.

Leighton Buzzard Library has confirmed with the LBO that it will be staying open until 6pm, but that it does not have toilet facilities due to the burst main.

Meanwhile, on the Anglian Water website, it says: “We are very sorry but some customers in Leighton Buzzard may have very low water pressure or no water at all.

“We’re working to repair a burst water main in your area so we can get the supply back to normal very soon, but it is proving to be a complex job that it taking longer than we had originally hoped.

“This should now be completed by 4pm today.

“Again, we’re really sorry if we’ve inconvenienced you and thanks for your patience.”

An Anglian Water spokesperson told the LBO: “We’re sorry that customers in the Lakeside area of Leighton Buzzard have had low pressure or no water at all today. Our teams are currently working to repair a burst water main in the area, which we were alerted to this early this morning.

“While the repair is being completed, we are working hard at moving water around our network and using tankers to bring as many customers back on water as quickly as possible.

“Traffic lights are in place on the Junction of Standbridge Road and Lake Street in order to allow our teams to complete the repairs as quickly and as safely as we can. We’d like to apologise for any inconvenience caused and would like to thank local residents for their patience whilst we get things back to normal.”