Reports of reservoir leak in Aylesbury Vale incorrect says Thames Water

Reports of a water leak in a reservoir in Aylesbury Vale are incorrect, Thames Water has told the Bucks Herald.

A dozen village schools in the area were closed today, following fears last night of a possible water supply outage in the area.

There had been concerns that a water leak at the Ashendon reservoir and multiple leaks over a wide area caused by freeze/thaw conditions could lead to a loss of water for up to 8,000 customers.

Headteachers were contacted and several decided not to open their schools today due to health and safety concerns.

But a Thames Water spokesperson said: “There isn’t a leak on the reservoir and customers are not out of supply.

"However, we’re seeing increased demand as well as more leaking or burst pipes, as a result of the increase in temperatures following the recent cold weather and, as a precaution, we’ve advised that this may impact supplies in the Aylesbury Vale area.

"We have contingency plans in place and we’ve increased the number of teams available to fix leaks across our region.

"Non-essential work is postponed so our customer and engineering teams can focus as much resource as possible to support customers and look after the network.”

A Buckinghamshire Council spokesperson said: “We had a report yesterday from Thames Water that water in the Ashendon reservoir was ‘draining’. The main areas affected were Haddenham, Marsh Gibbon, Grendon, Edgecott and Kingswood.

"Overnight Thames Water carried out searches and identified a couple of small leaks which they have isolated and are undertaking repairs. Thames Water have subsequently advised that they expect no further impact on customers but are monitoring the situation through the day.

“The council contacted schools in the area last night and, working to information that had been provided by Thames Water, many schools decided to close for today.

"From the information we had received, it did not appear that the issue could have been resolved so quickly. We subsequently contacted schools again this morning to provide the latest update from Thames Water but we expect that many have decided to stay closed today. We apologise for the inconvenience and disruption caused.”