Burst main sends jet of water 50ft into the air

A burst water main sent thousands of gallons of water into the air, covering neighbouring properties and leaving some residents without supplies.

Residents of Matson in Gloucester woke up to a "commotion" and saw water was shooting 50ft (15m) into the air above Winnycroft Lane, with bottles of water handed out by Severn Trent.

Christine Dix, a resident of Matson, said: "It's absolutely awful. We've never seen anything like this around here in 40 years. And it's a bit scary, to be honest."

Severn Trent said on Wednesday afternoon the burst had been "massively reduced" and apologised for the disruption.

The company added the pipe is one of the largest in its network and staff hope to "carefully manage the flow of water" while maintaining supplies.

Ms Dix said she was first alerted to the incident by a neighbour at about 07:00 BST on Wednesday.

"When I got dressed and came down here to see what was going on, I was just flabbergasted," she said.

Ms Dix said one house behind the stream was "taking all the brunt" of the burst pipe, which was leaving a lot of water on roads.

Before the water came back on, Severn Trent warned it may be brown and low pressure when it returned, which is normal.

A spokesperson for Severn Trent said on Wednesday afternoon the burst was no longer visible after being reduced.

"Our priority will now be to keep supplies on, while working to fix the pipe as our teams will start to dig down and assess the repair," they said.

"We will continue to have tankers in the area, as well as our customer support teams speaking to anyone who has been directly impacted. We are sorry for the issues caused, we know it has caused local disruption and we're thankful for everyone's patience.

"We're committed to getting the pipe fixed, and getting the area back to normal as soon as we can."

Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.