Traffic was brought to a virtual standstill in Newtown today after a major water leak closed the main road through the town.

Many properties along New Road were left without water following the leak just after 1.30am today.

Staff at Severn Trent were busy working to resolve the problem and were handing out bottled water to residents left without a supply.

They hope to have the problem fixed by the end of today.

Danny Waters, spokesman for Severn Trent, said: “We have been working on the leak since 2.30am this morning.

“It involved a six inch water pipe and we don’t really know how long it will take to fix but we are aiming to have the problem resolved by end of play today.

“Around 13 properties have been affected and we apologise for the inconvenience cause.”

He said the problem could have been caused by various reasons including ground movement or pressure on the pipe.

The water firm said it hoped to have the supply back on by lunchtime and a thorough investigation had been launched to find out what had happened.

Powys County Council spokesman John Evans said the council got the report about the burst main at 1.40am.

He said council staff set up road diversions with south bound traffic being put through the Treowen housing estate and north bound traffic being diverted through the town centre.

One resident Terry Jones, of New Road, said: “We have not had any water since the early hours of this morning.

“But we have been kept fully informed of what has been going on.

“They are offering bottled water to everybody who has been affected by the situation which has helped to ease it.

“It is not a big shock because with all the the amount of traffic that goes along here day in day out it was bound to happen eventually because I have heard that ground movements caused by traffic can cause a water pipe to burst.”

Another resident Kelly Shuker, who has three young children, said she had been forced to go and spend the day with her friend.

She said: “I found out we had no water about 5am this morning and I have three children all under the age of six so I can’t really cope without having water and I am going to have to spend the day with my friend at her house.”