A burst water main has flooded streets in south-west London as temperatures soared across the UK.
Around 70 firefighters and 10 fire engines responded to the scene on Galsworthy Road in Kingston upon Thames on Monday morning, alongside the police.
Footage shared on social media shows flooding on several roads which have been closed nearby.
Thames Water has said the broken 30-inch pipe does not supply homes so water should not be affected, adding that the conduit is a trunk main and not a sewage pipe as some witnesses claimed.
“Our engineers are tackling a large burst pipe on Kingston Hill. They’re working to shut down the flow of water from the damaged section,” it said in a statement.
“We’ll be doing all we can to repair it and get things back to normal as soon as we can, particularly in the current heatwave.
“The burst pipe doesn’t directly supply local properties, but we’ll be working hard to limit any impact.
“We’ll need to carry out a major repair, so there’s likely to be a need for a road closure. We’re sorry for any inconvenience this causes.”
The flooding also limited access to Kingston Hospital.
“Due to the water works incident on Kingston Hill, access to Kingston Hospital is currently limited,” Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust tweeted.
“Patients who need to come in can still enter the hospital site through the main car park entrance, via Coombe (road).”
London Fire Brigade said: “Firefighters are dealing with a large burst water main and is causing a number of road closures.
“Please avoid the area if possible.”
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