Dozens of residents in a Shropshire town were left without water for up to nine hours after a series of pipes burst.

Ellesmere’s busiest road was also flooded during rush hour.

Engineers from Severn Trent Water spent hours repairing three separate leaks in the town yesterday, which left some people without water until midnight.

More than 45 people reported the problem after the pipes burst shortly before 3pm, and were left either without water or a low pressure supply.

Police officers were called out to manage traffic along a stretch of the A495 during the afternoon after the leak caused flooding on the road.

Sergeant Julian Hinds said: “There was some flooding on the road but it didn’t cause any major problems.”

Engineers from the company managed to fix the problem by re-zoning the water supply late yesterday afternoon, but some families were still without water into the night as the pressure returned to its normal level.

Andrew Marsh, a Severn Trent spokesman, said the firm received 38 calls from people saying they had no water, and a further seven from people complaining about low water pressure.

He said: “We had three bursts to deal with on the A495. We were able to get everybody back on by re-zoning the supply, but there were still 14 properties off until the evening as once the repairs are made there will still be some intermittent pressure.

“Everything was back to normal by midnight and we apologise for the inconvenience caused.”