Businesses in St Albans lost hundreds of pounds in revenue today when they were struck by an area-wide water cut.

Premises with an AL1 postcode were left without water from about 10am to about 2.30pm because of a burst private fire pipe.

The problem affected numerous businesses in the city centre which rely on water to trade.

Owner of hairdressers Clipso, Simon Cox, said he was forced to cancel the majority of appointments and lost out on about £800 of income.

When the cold tap stopped working, there were customers halfway through colouring treatment in the salon and Simon was forced to buy bottled water to make sure their hair was not damaged.

He described the day as "stressful": "We have had better days, it's been bad.

"This has happened before but normally we have notice, but with this there was zero notice. It is not just us, and we can't do anything."

As he spoke to the Herts Ad, Simon was told the water had just started running again.

Nearby Jo Banks Salon and Spa also had to cancel about £350 worth of appointments throughout the day.

Manager Taz Fontana said he sent most of his staff home: "It is out of our hands so people were surprised but okay.

"It was a bit of a nuisance for some as they are going on holiday so they wanted to get prepared, and people mostly leave it until the last minute!

"If it had been a much busier day it could have been a lot worse."

The Maltings Dental Surgery were also forced to rely on bottled water. Practice manager Alina said: "We had a water supply issue so we have had to manage that."

She stressed that they had not had to cancel any appointments.

Area manager at The Exquisite Peacock Emporium, Roberta Contis, said water pressure was the primary issue in the café and the coffee machine was unaffected.

There was an issue with the sink, toilet, and dishwasher. Roberta said: "It wasn't something related to us, but it meant we had to serve everything in takeaway cups and we had to explain to our customers and apologise."

An Affinity Water spokesperson said the water supply has now been restored to all properties.

The Maltings has also been contacted for comment.