Three schools and a surgery have been closed during a morning of chaos caused by a burst pipe in Swindon.

Residents, schools, health services, and businesses in and around Old Town were left without water on the morning of Wednesday, May 22, after a water main pipe burst in the area.

At the time of writing, Thames Water engineers were still working to fix the pipe, and issues with water supply were ongoing.

An update on the situation is expected by 3pm.

The Old Town surgery has been without water since staff arrived at 7.30am, forcing them to cancel around 30 appointments.

A receptionist told the Adver: “We have had to cancel all the appointments for today.

“You can’t run a clinic without water, so it’s made things very chaotic for us.

“We had a full clinic - 30-odd appointments.

Swindon Advertiser: Thames Water vans in SwindonThames Water vans in Swindon (Image: Newsquest)

“Thames Water said they found the problem, so we just have to wait.

“We have started to have a trickle of water now, but the pressure is quite low.

“Fingers crossed it’ll be back by tomorrow.”

The Commonweal School, Lethbridge Primary School, and King William Street CE Primary School have also been forced to close during the incident due to a lack of access to water.

Commonweal School confirmed pupils would take part in remote learning, with the school to remain closed all day, although those taking external exams at the school were able to do so.

Thames Water has deployed six engineers to try and resolve the issue.

A group of engineers was spotted at what appears to be a substation on Curie Avenue.

Swindon Advertiser: Thames Water truck in SwindonThames Water truck in Swindon (Image: Newsquest)

In the meantime, tankers have also been sent to supplement the pipe network and water has been diverted around the area to return the supply.

Despite this, residents should expect low water pressure until the repairs are completed.

A spokesperson for the utilities company said: “We’re very sorry to our customers in Swindon who are experiencing low water pressure or no water.

“This is due to a burst water mains pipe in the local area.

"We have six engineers on the ground who have now located the leak and are working to isolate the pipe so they can carry out the repair.

"We also have tankers in the area who are supplementing our network of pipes with water as we work to keep the taps flowing for our customers.”