Printworks flood: London club night ends after 'reveller doing pull-ups' causes pipe to burst

A show at one of London’s major nightclubs ended in farce when a pipe burst and flooded the venue.

One club-goer told the Standard it was caused by a reveller trying to do pull-ups on a pipe at Printworks London.

The claim has been repeated numerous times on social media.

A spokesperson for the Rotherhithe club said: "Sunday’s Solid Grooves event at Printworks London was halted just before 9pm after an internal pipe was damaged, causing water to come into the venue.

"The building was cleared in accordance with safety procedures and we are grateful to guests for their cooperation and understanding.

"We are investigating reports of an incident that is believed to have caused the leak.

"We expect the necessary repair work to be completed shortly and there will be no impact on forthcoming events. Ticket purchasers who were affected by Sunday’s incident will be contacted by email in due course."

The sold-out “Solid Grooves” event had been running from noon on Sunday.

Matt Poole, a 19-year-old electrician from Bexleyheath, told the Standard: “Everyone was enjoying themselves, it was a good night. I was on the balcony, upstairs, directly above where the burst pipe was.

“All of a sudden, I saw people walking off, with everyone saying ‘it’s flooding’. You could see the reflection of the lights on the floor.

“The lights switched on, the music turned off, and someone said over the speaker that there had been a burst pipe and everyone needed to evacuate.”

He continued: “Rumour has it someone was trying to do pull-ups on the pipe, which caused it to burst.

“Everyone was a bit shocked. Some people were laughing but others were quite annoyed. It could have been worse, the electrics could have got caught in the water, so the security did well to react the way they did.”

Printworks London tweeted after the flooding: "Following a burst water pipe, tonight’s show at Printworks was stopped early and our staff assisted guests out of the venue."

London Fire Brigade said it wasn't called to the venue.