Less than 24 hours after the imposition of a hosepipe ban by South West Water, residents of the Dartmoor town of Chagford and surrounding villages awoke today (Sunday, August 9) to discover that they had no water in their taps.
A burst water main near the hamlet of Sandy Park, close to Chagford, in the early hours of Sunday caused an interruption to the mains water supply for the town and surrounding villages, including Drewsteignton, in parts of the TQ13 8 and EX6 6 postcode areas.
The interruption to supply was still ongoing early on Sunday afternoon and was threatening to extend into the evening.
Due to the lack of water, hospitality venues in Chagford, including The Three Crowns Hotel, were forced to temporarily close their doors to customers looking for food late in the morning on what local residents said felt like one of the warmest Sundays of the year so far.
At 11.40am on Sunday, South West Water issued an update on its website which read: “We are aware that customers in the TQ13 8 and EX6 6 areas are experiencing low water pressure or a loss of water supply. We have located a burst on our network which is causing the interruption.
“Our repair teams have assessed the issue and, due to the complexity of the repair, work is expected to take approximately six to seven hours to complete.
“We apologise for the inconvenience and thank customers for their patience and understanding while we work to restore supplies as quickly and safely as possible.”