Burst water mains in Harwood causes flooding chaos

The junction of Longsight Lane and Hough Fold Way, was flooded with cars driving through several inches of flooding.

Residents across nearby streets, including those in and around Bradshaw Brow and Longsight Lane, reported waking up to no water or extremely low pressure as a result of a burst water pipe.

Residents wake to no water after burst main floods streets in Harwood (Image: NQ)

One resident said: “We had no water when we got up this morning at 6.30am and it was quite a shock. There were quite a few streets nearby without water.”

Another added: “We’ve been without water all morning, it’s just one of them things – there’s nothing you can do about it.”

A Longsight Lane resident described the situation as “a bit of a shambles”, saying ongoing works in the area had already caused disruption.

He said: “They’ve been doing works here for a couple of weeks and now this has happened – it’s going to delay them even longer.

“Hopefully I’ll be able to have a shower at some point today.”

United Utilities confirmed the disruption was caused by a burst pipe and apologised to customers affected.

A spokesman said: “A burst has been reported to us on the junction of Longsight Lane and Hough Fold Way and we can confirm this is the cause of the disruption.”

“If your water looks discoloured, don’t worry – this can happen when natural sediments in the pipes are disturbed. We’ll continue to monitor the situation to make sure your supply returns to normal as quickly as possible.”

Engineers at the scene said the issue appears to be linked to an ageing pipe believed to be around 60 years old.

Workers said they have to dig up this area of concrete to identify the issue (Image: NQ)

One worker said: “We’ve been working on this road for the last two weeks but something underneath further along has caused this.

“It’s an old burst pipe so we’ll need to dig up the concrete to investigate.”

Water tankers were deployed across the area to help restore supply, bringing water in from other parts of the network.

Water on Wheels tank (Image: NQ)

Several “Water on Wheels” units were stationed around Harwood.

The disruption also forced the closure of Canon Slade School due to health and safety concerns.

In a statement, the school said: “We have liaised with United Utilities who have advised there is no estimated timeline for resolving the issue.

“We therefore had to make the difficult decision to close the school for health and safety reasons.”

Parents were asked to confirm arrangements for their children to leave site safely, while pupils eligible for free school meals were offered a grab bag before dismissal.

Surface water remained for several hours (Image: NQ)

Longsight Lane had already been closed due to separate works, adding to disruption in the area.

Flood conditions eased later in the day, after water became under control leaving behind large puddles on the roads.

Repairs are ongoing as engineers work on the scene.