26/09/2014 BBC Points West

Thank you. And that is it from us for this

Good evening. evening.

Thousands of homes in Bristol are still without tap

water tonight after a burst pipe flooded a Kingswood street.

Hundreds have been queuing `t temporary bowsers to fill up bottles

and plastic containers as they go into a second night without water.

In a moment we'll ask Bristol Water how long this disruption will go

on for, but first Andrew Pl`nt has the story of the day.

Queuing around the corner in this car park today to g`ther

water for washing and a morning cup of tea as 24,000 homes woke up to

Workmen up to their chests in this gigantic hole in thd road,

digging out a water pipe th`t suddenly burst yesterday afternoon.

I heard a noise and looked out the window, `nd

It flooded 100 yards of road and poured into people's holes,

even forcing evacuations by boat for the very young

and the less able, carrier bags serving as improvised wellids,

Last night those stuck outshde kept warm beneath blankets.

This morning they woke up to mechanical diggers outside

Bristol water had dropped bottles on their doorsteps this morning

We are fortunate in that we have got electricity

Over the road they've got no electricity, water or gas so, we've

been helping the neighbours and just making a few flasks for thel over

there, just in case, becausd we ve got quite a few elderly neighbours.

And Mabel, you can't even gdt ready for school this morning?

No, there's no water for me to have a shower.

Several thousand homes are without water in the taps so these bowsers,

huge mobile water holders, have been filled up

Elsewhere they were handing out these pre`packaged six packs.

People struggling away beneath the weight.

Even once this pipe is repahred the water quality will have to be

There's no guarantee that tomorrow morning the taps of anyone who's

Well Paul Kelson is from Bristol Water and joins us now

So how is the repair work coming along?

It's going well at the moment. The actual pipe has been replacdd so we

have the new pipe in. The w`ter is flowing back through. The ndxt stage

is to bring the water back hnto the system through the reservoir and to

make sure the water quality is correct. It will take the rdst of

the evening but we are confhdent that the water will be on for the

mine. Do you know what happdned yet? No, the pipe is split along its

length. That's unusual. It doesn't look particularly in bad sh`pe.

We'll have to look at this when we get back to the depot. At the moment

the most important thing is getting the work done. A lot of people s

lives have been disrupted and businesses. People are saying you

acted faster. Are we looking at compensation yet? No, in a case like

this, obviously a burst watdr main can happen at any time. It's a big

network. The job we have is to fix it. In this case, we were ddlayed

because there were health and safety issues. Those issues had to be

looked at and by the time that had been fixed and the gas has been

disconnected we were behind in getting the work done.

We apologise, obviously. We thank the customers for their pathence.

On to other news and the outstanding bravery of lembers

of the public was recognised today, almost three years after ond of

Awards were presented to those who risked their lives to save others

Here's our Somerset Correspondent Clinton Rogers.

The worst crash in British lotorway history left 7 dead and 51 hnjured.

Much worse had not these people risked

People like Rebecca Williams, an off duty naval medic who herself

was injured in the crash, yet still went to treat othdrs.

Did it not occur to you to get out the way?

Yes, straight away, I need to get out the car and run.

But then I saw other people injured and my initial insthncts

You can't just let go and stand back and watch.

And yet, as one, these people said they didn't think

We weren't being brave, we were terrified.

We could see people that were trapped in cars and what do you do?

You can't just turn your back on people like that.

There were awards for the emergency services, too

many of them saying it was the toughest night of their lives.

Families of the victims comhng face`to`face with those who helped.

A chance to say 'thank you' four years on.

To rugby and Gloucester are fifth in the Premiership

after beating London Welsh by 4 points to 10 at the Kassam Stadium.

And Bristol remain top of the Championship beating

There's more news on the BBC Website and your local BBC Radio st`tions.

We're back with you throughout the weekend.

But for now, I'll leave you with a look at the weather forec`st with

Fog may be a problem as we go through the night.

Dense in places, particularly across the Mendips

the Somerset Levels, Salisbtry Plain, the normal prone spots.

That will keep temperatures up to around 12 or 13 Celsius.

So, it is another mild night but quite a murky one in pl`ces

And given the time of year, that the sun won't be up tomorrow morning

until about 7.30am or 8.00al, where we do get the fog it lay well

be slow to clear and it might not be until mid to late morning.

Once it does, we'll have a fine day on thd cards.

A lot of cloud but some bright and sunny spells.

A small chance of one or two spots of rain under the thicker cloud

And another warm day for thd end of the year.

A high tomorrow of around 18 or 19 Celsius.

Looking ahead to Sunday, it stays mainly dry, often cloudy.

Helen Willetts has the national forecast next.

Good evening. Some very useable weather on offer this weekend in.

Fact, most of September has been decent, and that's because our jet

stream