Sunderland road closed for four hours by flooding from burst water main

A busy Sunderland road was closed for more than four hours today due to a burst water main.
Workers at the sceneWorkers at the scene
Workers at the scene

The A183 Chester Road was closed in both directions at the junction with St Mark's Road, Millfield, following the incident at around 5am.

Diversions were put in place whilst the burst was dealt with by officers from Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service and engineers from Northumbrian Water.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Northumbria Police tweeted: "Chester Road, Sunderland is closed in both directions at the junction with St Marks Road, due to a suspected burst water main.

"Please try to avoid the area.

"Diversions via Kayll Road, Hylton Road to City Centre or Ormonde Street, Barnes Park Road, Durham Road."

Tyne and Wear Fire Rescue Service said: "Fire crews are currently dealing with a fractured water main on Chester Road, at its junction with St Marks Road, Sunderland.

Workers at the sceneWorkers at the scene
Workers at the scene

"The road will be closed for the foreseeable future whilst authorities work to rectify the problem. It may be advisable to avoid the area or use alternative routes."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A spokesperson from Northumbrian Water, said: “We were made aware of a burst water main on Chester Road, Sunderland at 5.15am this morning and our teams were on site by 6am.

"The section of the road affected has been closed and diversions put in place.

“We have now isolated and stopped the burst and are working with Tyne & Wear Fire and Rescue to pump water away from the area.

The clean-up continuesThe clean-up continues
The clean-up continues

“The supply has been rezoned, so those customers affected will start to see their supply being restored, however they may still experience low pressure for a short time.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Repairs are ongoing and as soon as we have an estimated time for completion we will update customers on our social media channels.

“We apologise for the inconvenience and thank customers for their patience. Anyone with any questions or who needs any support can call us on 0345 7171100.”

By 9.30am, the majority of the water had been removed and the fire service had left the scene.

The scene after this morning's flood.The scene after this morning's flood.
The scene after this morning's flood.

Northumbrian Water engineers are now looking at the extent of the damage.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Bakhtiar Ali, who runs the Sultan Halal Superstore, on the junction of Chester Road and St Mark's Road, praised the response from the fire service and Northumbrian Water.

"The team was here straightaway," he said.

"They got all the drains open to let the water away, then they got on with fixing it.

"All the area of road outside the shop was flooded. The water came over the kerb but it did not come into the shop."