Several businesses at a Swindon retail park had to close for several hours today after being affected by a water shortage in the area.

Greenbridge Retail & Leisure Park in Swindon saw many of its tenants close their doors on Wednesday morning after being left with no water.

The McDonald’s on site was closed between 10am and 4pm with the popular fast food restaurant unable to serve customers items from their menu.

This issue also affected other food and drink outlets in the Greenbridge complex throughout the day.

Swindon Advertiser: McDonald's was closed for six hours due to the water issues.McDonald's was closed for six hours due to the water issues. (Image: Newsquest)

A staff member at Costa Coffee told the Adver: “We had to shut for several hours due to the water issues.”

The Frankie & Benny’s at Greenbridge was also closed for several hours, the Italian restaurant confirmed.

Other stores that were not dependent on water to remain operating stayed open but they too suffered inconveniences.

“We had no water for most of the morning and the staff could not use the toilets,” said a member of staff at Wilko.

The major issues were caused by a water pipe on Drakes Way that burst earlier on Wednesday morning.

Swindon Advertiser: Costa Coffee also had to close its doors due to the universal water shortage.Costa Coffee also had to close its doors due to the universal water shortage. (Image: Newsquest)

Thames Water are aware of the issue and had engineers on site for most of the day to try and solve the problem.

A spokesperson for the company said: “We’ve received reports of flooding on Drakes Way and our engineers are currently on site investigating a burst pipe.

"We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible and apologise for any disruption caused.”

Although some businesses have returned to normal, other issues are expected to remain closed for the foreseeable future because of the issue.

Swindon Advertiser: The pavement was lifted on Drakes Way due to the burst pipe which led to the area being cordoned off.The pavement was lifted on Drakes Way due to the burst pipe which led to the area being cordoned off. (Image: Dave Cox)

A member of staff at Mercedes-Benz Swindon on Drakes Way told the Adver of the expected lengthy delays.

“The water is going to be shut off for 48 hours or more,” said the staff member, who wished to remain anonymous.

“Our toilets will affected as well as the sinks so it is a real inconvenience to both staff and customers.”

The pavement around the area of the burst pipe has buckled, and was cordoned off by Thames Water engineers.

It was just outside the Big Yellow Self Storage unit where the incident occurred, leaving pedestrians to have to find an alternative route of negotiating the path.