If repairs can’t be completed a tanker will provide water to keep schools open

St John’s Catholic and The Grange schools have been closed as they had no water supply

Two local schools have been closed today after staff arrived to find they had no water supplies.

Both St John’s Catholic and The Grange schools have been affected by a problem across the Cherwell Heights estate.

Thames Water say they became aware of an issue during the early hours of the morning, but a member of staff at The Grange said they hadn’t been notified.   The school provides a “wrap-around” offering, meaning some children were in school from 7.30am.  

When the lack of water came to light staff acted quickly to send a message to parents advising them to keep their children at home, but a number were already on their way in.   Parents of youngsters who had started earlier had to return to collect their children.

Engineers from Thames Water have been on site close to the schools.

A spokesperson for the company told Banbury FM: “Our engineers attended to a burst water main near Hazeldene Gardens in the early hours of Thursday 11 January and have been working to make the repairs throughout the day.   Water supply is expected to return by the end of the day and we are communicating regular updates to the schools.

“We have tankers in the area and have diverted water from other parts of the network to keep taps flowing for our customers and would like to assure them our teams are working to resolve the issue as quickly and safely as possible.”

Banbury FM understands that should the water supply not be restored today a tanker will be deployed specifically to support the schools until the repair is completed.

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Published: 11/01/2024 03:57pm by Banbury FM Newsteam

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