Kingston Road In South Wimbledon Is Turned Into A River

Main road set to be closed until next week

A burst water main caused a major flood on the main Kingston Road through South Wimbledon on Sunday (July 3).

The first reports of the incident appeared around lunchtime, and the fire brigade had to divert traffic away from the scene.

The water was up to a foot deep from near South Wimbledon tube station to Merton Hall further up the road towards Merton Park. The flooding extended right down all the side roads off the road, which is a key arterial route into central London.

Four fire engines and around 21 firefighters were called to a burst water main on Kingston Road at 11.19am.

Fire station manager Chris Brown who was at the scene said: "Initially the road had flooded to a depth of about half a metre but crews worked hard to pump away water throughout the afternoon and early intervention by the Brigade helped to limit any damage. Firefighters also sand bagged properties to protect them and checked on local residents to see if they needed any help."

Merton Police advised motorists to stay away from the area as the main road, and surrounding roads were closed.

Although a new pipe was re-installed by Tuesday, the road has to be re-laid. The road is not expected to re-open until next week.

Meanwhile through traffic is diverted at Hartfield Road to the Merton Road crossroads. There is access for traffic up to Southey Road on one side and Montague Road on the other side.

Staff from Thames Water had worked to fix the burst overnight on Sunday. Meanwhile, homes across Wimbledon, Colliers Wood and Mitcham had no water supply, while there are power failures elsewhere.

It is understood Thames Water had stop the flood by turning off a valve in Tooting, and then re-route the water supply.

Thames Water said once the water was diverted from the 30 inch "strategic main" pipe on Sunday, a second burst further down the network led to reduced pressure.

When the flood was eventually stopped, there was a big hole in middle of the road where there's a pedestrian crossing at Merton Hall (scroll down for picture courtesy of @KevinronneilO).

Thames Water made bottled water available close to Wimbledon fire station as some people were without running water until Monday afternoon. Many people in the area remained with low pressure water until the new pipe was safe to come into use on Thursday.

In a statement they said on Monday: "We apologise to customers who are experiencing low pressure or no water. This is due to a large burst water main on Kingston Road SW19.

"We've re-routed water from other parts of the network while we fix the burst and most customers within KT3/6 and 20 should be in supply. These customers may notice a dip in pressure during peak draw.

"Due to the size of the area affected, customers within SW19/17 and CR4 area may still be experiencing interruptions to their water supply."

It is also responsible for cleaning up the debris left behind and repairing the road.

UK Power Networks worked to get people’s electricity back on.

A selection of images from the scene on Sunday: