Water restored after main burst

Flooding has caused Glasgow Nautical College to close until next week

Water supplies have been restored to thousands of homes in Glasgow after contractors burst a 24-inch water main on Wednesday.

Scottish Water said only a small number of properties, in the vicinity of the burst in the Gorbals, were waiting to be reconnected.

Crown Street, where the burst main happened, has now re-opened to traffic. Flooding also forced an evacuation of students from Glasgow Nautical College. It will not re-open until Tuesday.

The burst, which happened at about 0830 BST, caused a loss of water supply to homes and businesses in the east end and north of the city.

Gorbals, Rutherglen, Oatlands, Carntyne, Dennistoun, Royston, Port Dundas, Firhill, Possilpark and Springburn were all affected.

The burst also caused flooding in Crown Street and Adelphi Street in the Gorbals and the closure of the Albert Bridge, which crosses the River Clyde to Saltmarket.

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue deployed 25 firefighters to pump floodwater into the Clyde

I would be interested to know exactly how many people were without water today and for how long Bob Doris SNP MSP for Glasgow

Scottish Water then used a road sweeper and a vactor (vacum truck) to clean Crown Street and adjacent streets.

Jim Hassan, Scottish Water's regional manager, said: "The burst to the pipe happened while an external contractor was carrying out work in Crown Street. This work was not being carried out for Scottish Water.

"Scottish Water engineers were on site immediately to shut off the affected pipeline and redistribute the network.

"That was our priority and our engineers worked as quickly as they could to ensure that the affected customers had their normal supplies restored as soon as possible.

"Scottish Water apologises for any inconvenience caused to our customers and would like to thank them for their patience."

College closed

The incident caused serious disruption to Glasgow Nautical College and the cost of repairs could run into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Classrooms in the college, the underground car park and the swimming pool were damaged, as well as many cars parked in surrounding streets.

Acting principal, Richard Speight, said: "Mopping-up operations are now ongoing but the major impact to the college is the loss of power.

Our engineers worked as quickly as they could to ensure that the affected customers had their normal supplies restored as soon as possible Jim Hassan Scottish Water

"As this weekend is a holiday we have decided to close the college until Tuesday 30 September.

"Those students who can go home are doing so. However there are approximately 175 students from overseas or distant parts of the UK for whom accommodation will have to be found.

"We are obviously working to achieve this as a matter of priority and would expect all to be offered suitable accommodation by the end of today."

SNP MSP for Glasgow, Bob Doris, said he was "deeply concerned" about the magnitude of the disruption.

"Householders from Firhill in the west end right through to Rutherglen lost their water supply.

"I would be interested to know exactly how many people were without water today and for how long."

Mr Doris said that he had been told the "expensive mop-up and repair operation" would "not affect the bills of ordinary customers".