Thousands of homes across Merseyside have been left without water after a burst water main closed a major road.
Church Road in Litherland was submerged in water in the early hours of Saturday due to the burst water main from Park Lane to Hawthorne Road. Homes in six of the region's postcodes are currently without water or are experiencing low water pressure as a result.
The postcodes affected are: L21/L30/L9/L23/L10/L22. United Utilities were called out to Church Road shortly before 5am this morning and engineers remain in the area, where repairs are described as "complex."
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In an update at 4pm this afternoon, United Utilities said: " We’re sorry your water isn't flowing just yet. It’s taking us longer than we’d hoped to begin the repairs in your area. Repairs to our network can be harder to fix than we first thought, and take longer than we’d hope to complete, but please be assured we are doing everything we can to get your taps flowing and toilets flushing again.
"Thanks for your understanding and sorry for the inconvenience."
A closure remains in place on Church Road this evening which is affecting traffic between Seaforth and the M58 Switch Island, according to Inrix. Brown water is also pouring out of people's taps in some postcodes affected by the burst pipe.
One resident described the incident as a "nightmare" while another said they "can't even flush the toilet". A video shared with the ECHO shows part of the road submerged in water.
Liverpool's Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram is one of many residents who have been left without water today. He tweeted: "These things happen, but it would be nice if @unitedutilities updated residents with a ‘rough’ estimate of when we could expect water to be restored. Asking for the wife!!"
Bootle MP Peter Dowd said he is receiving regular updates from United Utilities and said he has been told repair work will begin soon.
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