ANOTHER burst water main is affecting traffic in a town.

Thames Water engineers are currently fixing a leak in Alderton Hill, Loughton, at the junction with Roding Road.

The latest leak comes just days after a burst mains at Church Hill, Loughton cause long tailbacks, and Thames Water have blamed the cold weather for a recent spate of incidents.

Thames Water spokesman Simon Evans said: “We turned off that main at 12.35pm. Thirty properties may have interruptions to supplies while we do this and we are very sorry to customers for this but we have to fix this pipe.

“The disruption to the road will go on a bit longer as we have to rebuild the road afterwards. We apologise to residents and road users for that inconvenience.

“Our work of late has been more difficult since the cold snap began. We usually have 200 jobs in backlog and we currently have 400. The issue currently is snow and ice makes it more difficult to go around.

“Most of our pipes are cast-iron Victorian. These pipes are so old they are prone to cracking and breaking during cold weather “Our engineers are doing a great job out in the cold and wet conditions working long hours.”

Mr Evans advised residents who see a leak to call Thames Water's leak hotline on 0800 714614.