Zoo closes as water outage hits East Sussex homes

Homes in Polegate, Eastbourne and surrounding areas have been left without water, or with low pressure, due to two separate pipes bursting overnight.

Drusillas Park in Alfriston said it has been forced to close after being left with no water supply across the whole park.

A spokesperson for the zoo said: “We are so disappointed to not open today, and are sorry to everyone who won’t be able to visit us as planned.”

South East Water said it is carrying out repairs and expects supplies to be restored by ‘late afternoon’.

Jim MacIntyre, Incident Manager at South East Water, said: “We’re so sorry to anyone who is currently experiencing water supply issues – whether it is low water pressure or no water at all – following two separate burst pipes on our network overnight.

“Our technicians have now repaired the burst in Milton Street, Polegate and we are restoring this part of the network carefully, to minimise the risk of further bursts or air locks.

“Repairs are ongoing at Hazelwood Avenue, Eastbourne and we are redirecting water around our vast network of underground pipes to restore tap water to as many properties as possible.

"We anticipate water will return for affected properties by late afternoon today.”

Bottled water is currently being handed out to residents at Eastbourne Rugby Football Club, Park Avenue, Eastbourne, BN22 9QN.

Teams are also delivering bottled water to customers on the Priority Services Register.

For live updates, visit: www.aqualerter.southeastwater.co.uk/