A NUMBER of pipes which burst in Exmouth caused 2,000 properties to be left without water this week.

Six mains burst last Monday, July 5 – three on Pound Lane, and one each on Featherbed Lane, the junction of Pines Road and Vansittart Drive, and on Trinifield Avenue.

Initially, 2,000 properties were affected in the town but that number dropped to 100 after South West Water re-routed supplies and installed temporary overland pipes on Scott Drive.

A further three burst on Tuesday with the affected areas being Marley Road, Palm Close and Redwood Close. Only customers on Marley Road were without water.

All repairs were completed by 1pm.

A spokesperson for South West Water said: “We would like to apologise to customers in Exmouth who had low pressure or no water on Monday and Tuesday.

“We believe the bursts were caused by very dry weather conditions. The ground contracts as the water content dries up. The pipes do not contract at the same rate as the soil, which causes them to break.

“South West Water has one of the best leakage records in the industry.

“More than �7.5 million is being spent on maintaining South West Water’s leakage record this year with the aim of fixing bursts within 24 hours and major leaks within three days.”