YORKSHIRE Water’s response to an issue which saw thousands of homes lose their supply for more than 12 hours has been blasted by locals.
The Chronicle understands a problem with valves at the utilities firm’s pumping station at Langsett was encountered, which wiped out the water supply to approximately 5,000 homes from Sunday morning.
Wards including Worsbrough, Central, Kingstone and Stairfoot were impacted.
Residents criticised the response and a failure to supply bottled water to the most vulnerable in the area.
Coun Jake Lodge, who represents the Worsbrough ward, has written to the chief executive of Yorkshire Water blasting them for their lack of support to those in need.
“I received numerous calls and messages from residents who had received no information or advice, so I contacted Yorkshire Water and requested that water be distributed as soon as possible, and advice provided to vulnerable residents impacted,” he said.
“Some were left without a water supply for over 12 hours in some instances, leaving many frustrated, angry and upset as they were left in the dark by the company on what was being done to rectify the situation.”
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson added: “There were widespread power outages and this impacted the water supply network.
“We re-zoned the network to minimise the impact as much as possible, but approximately 5,000 properties experienced supply interruptions during Sunday.
“We kept customers updated via our social media channels and those who are registered on the priority services register were also contacted.
“Supply was restored to all properties by the early hours of Monday morning.
“We apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank customers for their patience while power was restored and supplies returned to normal.”