Faulty valve leaves thousands without water in Leighton Buzzard

Thousands of residents have been left without water for three days in Bedfordshire due to problems initially caused by one faulty valve, Anglian Water has said.

The damaged device was found after supplies for about 12,000 properties in Leighton Buzzard, Toddington, Hockliffe and surrounding areas were cut off on Friday evening.

Residents reported water running yellow and cloudy at around 6pm before the supply stopped entirely later that night.

Anglian Water has restored supplies to "many customers" but people in four areas are without water for a second night, the company said on Sunday.

In a statement posted on Twitter, it said "air trapped in the pipes means that some customers in Leighton Linslade, Pottsgrove, Milton Bryan and Southcott are still without water".

It added: "We are working hard to fix this, and we will continue through the night until it is resolved."

Earlier, the company was branded "disgraceful" by residents after thousands were left without water.

The supplier had initially said the problem which began on Friday evening in the area of Leighton Linslade, Bedfordshire, home to an estimated 40,000 people, would be fixed by midday on Saturday.

At 3pm it said water "should be coming back on now" for all except those in northern parts of Leighton Buzzard - for whom "the delay might be slightly longer".

But by 4.30pm, many residents continued to complain supplies had not returned, even in the south of the area, and some were unhappy with Anglian Water's communication.

The company said the initial problem was caused by a damaged valve.

Resident Richard Ayre said: "The main concern is that they are saying it is one valve that has caused the issue.

"Surely the town and the villages are not all supplied through one pipe."

Anglian Water said bottled water is available for affected customers from Tesco on Vimy Road and Brooklands Social Club on Garden Leys - or for delivery by calling 0800 145 145 for those on Anglian Water's WaterCare register.

Mr Ayre, 29, said he had not been made aware beforehand of the register.

"Otherwise we would have signed up as a relative has just been released from hospital and needs to take in a large amount of fluids," he said.

Complaints about the water supply issue were so widespread that Leighton Buzzard was trending on Twitter on Saturday.

On Sunday, an Anglian Water spokeswoman said: “We are really sorry customers in Leighton Linslade are still without water.

“Our teams have found an air lock in our network which is preventing water from reaching our customers.

"We have a plan in place to resolve this, but it’s going to take several hours to complete and allow the network to refill, this means it is unlikely water will return to these properties until later this afternoon.

"We will be using tankers in the meantime to bring as many people back onto water as possible.

“We know it’s been incredibly frustrating for our customers that timescales have changed over the last two days and not all supplies have been restored at the same time.

"Our estimates are always given with the best of intentions for returning things to normal, but on this occasion, it has proved an unusually complex issue to resolve, with challenges that could not be predicted emerging along the way.”