‘Christmas presents have been ruined’ – Residents left devastated after a burst water main floods houses

Northumbrian Water has had engineers on site at Barrack Row after the burst shortly after 7.30am today, Thursday, December 24.

Traffic has been affected due to road closures and several homes have been flooded as the result of the incident.

Sophie Clark was clearing out her grandmother’s house after it had been one of those affected. She said Christmas presents had been ruined by the water.

The 27-year-old hotel worker said: “Thankfully my gran is safe and well at my mam’s house but the carpets, Christmas presents, well everything is ruined.

"We usually hide all the kids presents here and we only took them away yesterday but it is just one of these things I suppose.

“Luckily we weren’t meant to be here for Christmas Day anyway.”

A neighbour of Sophie’s gran, Mr Watson, shared this sympathies with those in the street who had been impacted by the burst.

He said: “We just woke up this morning to a burst pipe and there was no water on although that is starting to come back now.

"About three or four have been flooded which is a shame at this time of year.”

Another neighbour said: “There was so many fire engines that I thought there had been a house fire down the bottom of the street.

"It wasn’t until I tried to turn a tap on that I realised that it must be something to do with the water.

"It’s awful for those who have been flooded this close to Christmas.”

A spokesperson for Northumbrian Water said: “We were called to a large burst on an 18-inch pipe on Barrack Row, Shiney Row, Sunderland at 7.40am, which we attended to immediately.

“Our teams were able to quickly stop the burst, however due to the extent of the burst and the size of the pipe there has been some localised flooding in the area.

“We wholeheartedly apologise for the impact this has had on these customers and we will work with them and support them during this time."

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