MORE than 200 homes, businesses and a school were left without water for six hours after a water mains burst yesterday morning.

Worsthorne Primary School, in Brownside Road,was forced to close for the day after supplies to the village went off at around 6am.

Parents and pupils were told of the problems on arrival.

The school which has three infant and four junior classes was expected to reopen today.

The problems were first reported to United Utilities at around 6.15am with more than 150 residents phoning through the morning to inform them of the problems.

United Utilities said the cause was a burst water main under a field close to Ormerod Street.

Two response teams were sent to the area to assess the issue and begin repairs.

Some householders filled toilet cisterns with water collected from their gardens during the recent rain deluge and businesses in the village improvised to stay open.

Margaret Stansfield, of the Village Chippy, in Church Square, said: “Everyone in the village seemed to be affected, including the shop.

“We were able to open because our supply at home wasn’t affected and we filled up some five gallon drums and brought them in.”

Phil Banfield, licensee of the Bay Horse pub, said: “It affected us because as our food prep work in the morning was very delayed.

“But the water came back on at 11.50am so we were able to open.” Supplies were restored to most properties at around noon with the repairs completed at 3pm.

A spokesman for United Utilities said: “We sent two water tankers to the area to pump water directly into the mains to try to alleviate the supply problems.

“The repairs meant most customers had water restored by lunch-time but full pressure was not restored until later in the afternoon.”