Villagers without water for 7 hours

A Shropshire village went without water for more than seven hours yesterday after council contractors severed a major pipe nearby.Water supplies ran dry at about 9am in Clun and it appeared that almost every property in the village was left high and dry apart from the White Horse Inn.

A member of staff at the pub said that they had one resident dropping in, not for a pint but to fill up his water container. "We must be on a different supply," she added.

Graham Didlick, at the Sun Inn, said that fortunately the pub was not too busy during the day.

He said: "I did notice it had gone off in the morning. I suppose it came back on around 4pm. Most people seem to take it on the chin, as they say it happens quite often."

Gill Dickinson, for Seven Trent, said: "Contractors working for the council damaged one of our water mains in Clun, yesterday, in Waterloo Lane just before midday on Thursday. Around 30 customers contacted us to say they had no water supplies.

"We sent a team out to inspect the damage and to carry out repairs. The repairs were completed by around 8pm. Water supplies to affected customers were all restored, at the latest, by the time the repair was finished. Many will have been reconnected before this time.

"We'd like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience they experienced, and for their patience while repairs were carried out."