Residents on a housing estate in Kingsbury have been left without water until tomorrow morning following a burst pipe and the collapse of a pavement during building works this afternoon.
More than 240 homes in Bush Grove have been affected by the double incident at 4.30pm which resulted in thousands of gallons of water gushing out on to the streets.
David Perry, chairman of Bush Grove residents association, said: “It’s a massive swimming pool here. The surrounding walls and area is in danger of collapsing if they don’t get the water out quick enough.
“The builders said the wall just collapsed but the whole mains have gone, water is just pouring out everywhere, gallons and gallons of water at the top of Bush Grove.
“There was gallons and gallons of water gushing out. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Fire crews were called to the scene where they secured the damaged pavement and surveyors from Brent Council have visited to assess the damage.
Ian Hobbs, a resident, claimed the burst pipe happened as builders were digging a hole between houses which was up to 20 feet deep.
He added: “Now the estate has no water, the hole is filling in with water, there’s no support in the hole and now the pavement has collapsed as well.”
According to Mr Perry, Affinity Water, the estate’s supplier, have informed residents they are working to have full restoration around 3am.
“Some of us have got friends who live at the bottom of the estate who have got water. I don’t know how the others are managing, going thirsty I suspect,” he added.
A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade told the Times: “Building work is going on in the basement of premises in Bush Grove. The flood is one and a half metres deep and a footpath has collapsed. We do not know at this stage what caused it.”
A spokesman for Affinity Water said: “We can confirm that customers in Bush Grove, Kingsbury were left without water yesterday evening due to a damaged water main.
“It is currently believed that the main was damaged by a collapsed footway adjacent to a large private basement excavation. This is also caused some localised flooding.
“Our teams worked throughout the night to ensure the repair could be made in the safest way possible.
“They also pumped out the flood water and erected secure fencing to ensure public safety. Customers’ water supply was restored just after 3am this morning.”
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