Thousands of Sussex homes without water and roads flooded

Thousands of homes in parts of West Sussex have water supply issues and a number of roads have flooded after what police are describing as a “significant” leak.

Roads around the Southgate Roundabout in Crawley have been closed on Sunday morning due to the burst water pipe, Sussex Police said.

Southern Water said around 9,000 customers were impacted and it was setting up bottled water stations.

A company spokesperson said: “Our teams are on site and working as quickly and safely as possible to repair the burst and restore supplies.”

The company said customers were experiencing a loss of water supply or low pressure in the following areas – Woolborough Road, Holmcroft, Southgate, Tilgate and Furnace Green.

It reported at 12:00 BST that supplies had returned to some homes.

At about 18:00, Crawley Borough councillor Duncan Crow said about 4,000 properties had seen their supplies returned.

The Southern Water spokesperson added: “Restoring water to customers as quickly as possible remains our highest priority.”

John Boulton, who is 82, and his partner are without water.

He said: “It’s pretty disgusting, really – we pay so much for the water supply.”

Boulton said he had just paid £22 for bottled water in a shop.