Royal Wootton Bassett Academy closed for Thames Water burst

The Thames Water burst at Stoke Common Lane just north of Purton, causing disruption for a large area of Wiltshire on Wednesday morning, July 2.

Homes and businesses in Purton, Shaw, Royal Wootton Bassett, Wanborough, Wroughton, Shrivenham, Watchfield, Highworth, Cricklade, Lyneham, Pewsham, Cirencester, Fairford and Kemble are all understood to be without water or with low water pressure, due to the burst.

Royal Wootton Bassett Academy then confirmed that the school has closed due to the burst pipe.

Royal Wootton Bassett Academy has been forced to close (Image: Google Maps) A statement issued by the school shortly before 11.30am stated: "Royal Wootton Bassett Academy will have to close today.

"There has been a burst water pipe in Lydiard Park that has affected our water pressure and the tanks that the school use are beginning to empty.

"We have been waiting for an update from Thames Water and we understand that they will update via their website by 1pm this afternoon.

"We will update you when we know more from Thames Water."

The pipe burst near Purton is one of two bursts affecting the Swindon area on Wednesday morning.

The scene at one of the water leaks at Lydiard Park (Image: Google Maps) A spokesperson for Thames Water: "We’ve controlled the flow of water from the burst pipe, and a specialist repair team are on their way. Once on site, they’ll dig down to the damaged section of pipe and decide how best to fix it.

"While we complete the repair, we’re adding water back into our pipes using tankers, so as many customers as possible can turn on their taps again.

"Tankers are large vehicles filled with water, which you may see parked in your area over the next couple of hours. After starting our repairs, we aim to have fixed the burst pipe within 3 hours.

"However, if we’re unable to return water to all our customers within 12 hours of first being aware of the supply interruption, we’ll arrange for an alternative as soon as we can.

"This may include opening a support station to hand out free bottled water."

Thames Water vans have also been spotted dealing with a leak at Lydiard Park, which workers say is believed to have started in a wooded area of the site.