AROUND 10,000 homes were left without water yesterday after a main burst.

Three schools were forced to close, businesses in West Bridgford had no supply and traffic was held up as workers tried to fix the problem.

The water main sprung a leak near Silverdale Island at around 3am on Friday leaving homes in West Bridgford, Silverdale, Clifton, Gamston, Wilford, Lenton, Basford and Lady Bay without a supply.

Businesses in Central Avenue, West Bridgford, were also cut off until about 10.15am and Abbey Road Primary School in West Bridgford, Pierrepont Gamston Primary School, in Coledale, West Bridgford, and Lady Bay Primary School in Trent Boulevard had to shut.

A spokeswoman for Severn Trent Water said: "We would like to apologise to all of our customers in Nottingham who were affected by a loss of water supply.

"All of our affected customers should now have their supplies restored.

"Some customers may initially experience slight differences in water pressure or some discolouration but this can be rectified by just waiting until the taps run clear."

Bottled water was also given to residents until their supply was returned.

Vic Richardson, 88, of Garsdale Drive, Silverdale, said: "I'm an OAP and people are coming round knocking on the door and saying 'do you want a bottle of water?'

"This is great and very much appreciated by people like me. A lot of people here live alone and it is very good to see they are being looked after.

"It has been quite panicked here because people driving cars have not been able to get out of the estate, because Silverdale Island was blocked."

Diversions were set up near Siverdale Island for the repairs to the main.

Severn Trent workers were yesterday possibly expecting some of the diversions to remain in place today.

Rail passengers who bought discounted advance tickets and missed the train because of the burst main were unable to claim back their fare. They also had to buy another ticket if they wanted to travel, according to East Midlands Trains.