Burst pipe left people without water for 18 hours

Yorkshire Water has said it will carry out an internal review after dozens of people were left without supplies for up to 18 hours following a burst water main.

The incident happened on the A161 Crowle Road overbridge, which takes traffic across the M180 in North Lincolnshire, on 15 February. It affected those in the DN9 and DN17 postcodes, including the villages of Crowle, Epworth and Eastoft.

Some customers have criticised the company for not helping them properly and being left without water.

During a parliamentary committee meeting on Tuesday, Yorkshire Water's chief executive Nicola Shaw admitted customers were "dissatisfied", as the company apologised in a statement for the incident.

David Lane, who lives in Eastoft, said he was taking a shower when supply ceased.

He said: "Suddenly there was no water and it [remained like that] for a good 18 hours."

He later contacted Yorkshire Water, which had assured him there would be "a water tanker" arriving in the village by 18:00 GMT.

However, the emergency supply never arrived and instead, water bottles had been delivered to the neighbouring villages of Luddington and Crowle, bypassing his hamlet, he said.

Mr Lane said he gave up chasing the water company by phone because of a "30-minute wait" time.

Paul Fillingham, a parish councillor in Eastoft, said he had rallied around the village trying to help those in desperate need of water, "which didn't materialise".

"[Yorkshire Water] went through the village with an artic load of water and dropped it at the next village," he said.

He said while some of those who were vulnerable had received bottles of water, many others were left without.

Another Eastoft resident, Sue Healy, said there had been "a lack of information" to keep customers informed about the incident.

"I received four text messages the day after, but nothing on the day it actually happened," she said.

In a statement, Yorkshire Water apologised "for any inconvenience caused" by the burst water main and for not updating some customers.

However, it said: "The location over the M180 motorway made it more complex than usual to complete a quick repair."

The company said it delivered bottled water to 211 vulnerable customers. But could only set up stations "in areas where it is safe to do so and there is space to host the bottled water", and as a result, was "unable to set up bottled water [distribution] in Eastoft".

A spokesperson said: "We have spoken with local councillors today to understand their concerns and we will be conducting an internal review to identify any areas for improvement."

Speaking to MPs on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee earlier, Ms Shaw said: "We want to achieve a thriving Yorkshire, which is doing the right thing for our customers and for the environment.

"We know we are not doing that at the moment."

She admitted the company's performance was "not good enough".

"The public is obviously dissatisfied and rightly so," she said.

Earlier this month, Yorkshire Water apologised after a leaking pipe resulted in a road closure and left hundreds of properties in Goole without supply.

When quizzed by MPs why the company only supplied bottled water to 44 of the 600 homes affected, Ms Shaw said they believed "there was still supply".

"I think in retrospect that was the wrong decision," she added.

Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.