Sunday, September 27, 2026
Privacy-First Edition
Back to NNN
World

Thousands without water and roads closed after burst pipe

Image source, Eddie MitchellImage caption, Areas of Crawley are flooded and about 9,000 homes have water supply issues

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.

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.

Image source, Eddie MitchellImage caption, The water main burst in the early hours of Sunday morning causing extensive flooding

Southgate Avenue, Crawley Avenue and part of the A23 are currently closed, according to Southern Water.

Sussex Police has asked that people avoid the area while emergency services manage the situation safely.

The County Mall shopping centre in the town has been temporarily closed due to the water outages.

Image source, Eddie MitchellImage caption, Southern Water said its teams were working to make the repairs as quickly as possible

Martin Lawrence was making deliveries in the area at 05:00 BST.

He told BBC Radio Sussex: "I came across this massive flood going across the road.

"There was a large amount of water going from one side of the roundabout to the other and going into an underpass.

"I've never seen so much water in my life."

Follow BBC Sussex on Facebook, external, on X, external, and on Instagram, external and listen to BBC Radio Sussex on Sounds. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk, external or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.

Water returns to Gatwick Airport after major outage

Gatwick Airport faced water outage after main burst

Read original at BBC News

The Perspectives

0 verified voices · Three viewpoints · Real discourse

Left
0
Be the first to share a left perspective
Center
0
Be the first to share a center perspective
Right
0
Be the first to share a right perspective

Related Stories