HOMEOWNERS were left horrified after waking up to see water cascading down their street after a major pipe burst.
Alan and Sue Howell awoke yesterday around 5am to see water pouring down Clarence Road, Rayleigh, leaving their pristine garden waterlogged.
It came after a water main pipe burst at the junction between Leslie Road and Clarence Road.
Luckily their house did not take in any water.
Despite an initial 20-minute push to get through to Essex and Suffolk Water’s emergency line, the couple have praised the company for taking swift action to shut the pipe off, though their garden has not returned to normal yet.
Alan said: “This has affected a lot of our neighbours, we saw it when my wife got up this morning, around 5.30am, we looked out the window and we couldn’t believe what we saw.
“I came down to have a look and saw water cascading down the road and from the gardens next door, it was coming in under it, flowing under the flowerbeds and the gravel boards from my neighbours.
“I looked in at my neighbours who have spent six months renovating their garden, it is utterly waterlogged and we tried to rouse them, they are devastated.
“We have suffered for many years with and drainage, we had our garden renovated in 2018 and we put in a French drain, even with that the water has to be pumped away and it needs drying out.”
Alan added: “Once they turned off the water, up the road, things started to kick in but it is really taking a while to dry out in other people’s gardens, the positive is I don’t think anyone was having internal flooding.
“It was dealt with quite quickly, it is just in those initial moments, when you wake up and come to your senses where you do get anxious.”
A spokesman for Essex & Suffolk Water said: “We were called to a burst water main at 5.30am this morning on Clarence Road. Rayleigh. Our technicians were able to quickly isolate the burst to ensure water supplies to the area were not affected. They are currently working hard to fix the burst. Traffic control measures are in place and will remain until the section of the main is replaced and the road is reinstated.
“We will be liaising with and supporting our customers whose properties have been affected by the water and apologise for the impact of this burst.”
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