Thousands without water in Crawley as burst main floods roads near Southgate Roundabout

Thousands of homes across parts of Crawley in West Sussex lost their water supply or were left with low pressure on Sunday morning after a large water main burst, flooding roads around the Southgate Roundabout and forcing a string of road closures across the town.

Southern Water, the regional supplier, said roughly 9,000 customers had been affected by the incident and that it was establishing bottled water stations to provide emergency drinking water while repairs were carried out. A company spokesperson said engineers and repair crews were already on site and working to restore supplies as quickly and safely as they could, adding that getting water back to affected households remained the company's top priority.

The homes and businesses affected are spread across five neighbourhoods: Woolborough Road, Holmcroft, Southgate, Tilgate and Furnace Green. Residents in those areas reported either a complete loss of supply or a significant drop in pressure, the latter often meaning that showers, washing machines and even hot water systems struggle to work properly while the network is under strain.

The flooding has also had a marked impact on the road network. Southgate Avenue, Crawley Avenue and a section of the A23 were all closed as a result of the escape of water, according to Southern Water. The A23 is one of the country's busiest trunk routes, linking London with the south coast and passing close to Crawley, meaning disruption there can quickly affect commuters and freight traffic well beyond the town boundary.

Sussex Police said roads in the vicinity of the Southgate Roundabout were closed on Sunday morning and described the leak as "significant". Officers asked the public to avoid the area while emergency services worked to manage the situation safely. Travellers using the underpass beneath the roundabout were among those affected, with water pouring through a structure that is already prone to collecting runoff and, in heavy or prolonged flooding, to becoming impassable for pedestrians and drivers.

One man who witnessed the scene first-hand gave a vivid account of the scale of the flooding. Martin Lawrence, who was out making deliveries in the area at about 05:00 BST, said he came across a vast expanse of water across the road. He described water sweeping from one side of the roundabout to the other and pouring into the underpass, adding that he had never in his life seen so much water in one place.

The timing of the burst is significant for a town of Crawley's size. Early morning is one of the busiest periods for household and commercial water use, with showers, breakfast preparation and the first wave of business activity all competing for capacity. When a large main fails at such a point in the day, the drop in pressure and the volume of water released can overwhelm local drainage almost immediately, which appears to be what happened here.

Burst mains are a persistent feature of ageing water infrastructure across the UK, and incidents tend to cluster in the warmer months, when higher demand and ground movement can combine to stress pipes and joints. Southern Water is one of the country's largest water companies, serving millions of customers across the south and south-east of England, and incidents of this kind regularly prompt questions about the pace of network replacement and the level of investment in maintenance.

Crawley also sits in close proximity to Gatwick Airport, one of the UK's major international hubs and a critical source of local employment. BBC News has previously reported on a significant water disruption affecting the airport following a burst on a main, and on the eventual return of water supplies following a major outage there in late July, with earlier coverage of a main burst in August. Those incidents underline how vulnerable the region's water network can be when a single large main fails.

For residents, the immediate priority is access to safe water. When supplies are lost or pressure drops, water companies typically advise customers to treat tap water as unsuitable for drinking until it has run clear or until official guidance is given, and bottled water stations are set up at published locations to help those who are unable to collect water elsewhere. Households reliant on powered pumps or on appliances that need a steady flow may also be affected until pressure is restored.

Local businesses face their own pressures. Restaurants, car washes, care homes and medical facilities in the affected postcodes may need to make contingency arrangements, while anyone driving through the closed roads around the roundabout is being asked to follow diversions and avoid the area altogether as works continue.

It is not yet clear how long the repair will take, or when full pressure will be restored to every street listed. Southern Water has advised customers to check its dedicated loss-of-supply page for updates, and Sussex Police have urged drivers to plan their routes around the closures until the roundabout and its approaches are reopened.

The report was compiled by Stuart Maisner for BBC News in the South East, with additional information available from Southern Water and Sussex Police.