AT LEAST four schools were forced to close today (Wednesday) and large areas of St Albans were without water after a water main burst. It happened on the North Orbital Industrial Estate in Napsbury Lane, at 5am and left residents living at 11 different po

AT LEAST four schools were forced to close today (Wednesday) and large areas of St Albans were without water after a water main burst.

It happened on the North Orbital Industrial Estate in Napsbury Lane, at 5am and left residents living at 11 different postcodes in the city with low or no water supply.

Bernards Heath School, Camp Primary School and Wheatfields Infant and Junior Schools were forced to close and St Albans Girls School and Beaumont School both had to switch to back-up supplies.

One St Albans resident who did not wish to be named said he woke up to find there was no cold water. Worried about going to work and leaving his father, who was bed bound with flu, without any drinking water he called Three Valleys Water Company.

He had to wait for about 10 minutes before anyone answered the phone and then during the conversation with customer services he was cut off.

A spokesperson for Three Valleys Water said they were in the process of resupplying customers with water from another area of the network and were waiting for pressure to be restored

Herts County Council's children schools and families department said they had also heard that Cunningham Hill School was closed but it had not been confirmed.

All parents had been informed of the closures via local radio and the individual school websites.