Bottled water is now being given out to those who have lost their tap supply in Baldock after a main burst.

Supplier Affinity Water is handing out the bottles on a grass verge beside London Road – postcode SG7 6NA – and in the car park at Knights Templar Sports Centre in Weston Way, postcode SG7 6EY.

Water bottles are now also being given out at the Tesco Extra store in Baldock High Street and Letchworth Outdoor Pool in Icknield Way.

A spokeswoman said: “We are providing bottled water to vulnerable customers on our safeguard register and have made arrangements for local collection points for other customers in Baldock who are currently without water.

“We are sorry for the disruption to your supply and thank you for your patience.”

Water is also being given out behind Tesco in the High Street. A station at Clothall Common has run out.

There had been reports of a water leak in Pryor Road as early as Wednesday last week, but the problem became much worse yesterday evening – with most of Baldock left without running water.

Affinity this morning apologised and said a 16in outlet main had burst at the Weston Hills storage reservoir, adding that pumps had been brought in because the main was under three metres of water.

A spokeswoman added: “Our repair team is on site. The burst main is under three metres of water, so we have deployed pumps to the area to remove the water, so we can access it for repair.

“This may take up to 12 hours to drain.

“In the meantime, we are looking to adjust our network to bring in water from other areas to minimise the impact and restore supplies.”

Parts of Baldock and Letchworth were hit by a power cut at 11.45am this morning, with 210 properties still without electricity after an initial 626 were affected. It is not clear if this is connected to the water situation.

Affinity expect to provide a further update after 2.45pm.