logo
Schools closed due to burst water pipe

Schools closed due to burst water pipe

Yahoo3 days ago

Pupils at two schools have been told to stay at home due to a burst water pipe.
The Commonweal Sixth Form School and Lethbridge Primary School in Swindon, Wiltshire, closed earlier as they had no water.
Utility company Thames Water said it had found a solution to fix the leak on Collard Close, but the "tricky process" could take a few hours.
GCSE and A-Level exams at Commonweal School will still take place, but Year 10 mock exams have been postponed due to the disruption.
In a statement, the school's headteacher Charles Drew said all students - except from those with external exams - "should stay at home and engage in remote learning".
Thames Water said it had been able to temporarily restore supply in the area by bringing in water from other parts of the network.
It added that workers were digging down to expose the section of broken main and expected the repair to take between four and five hours to complete.
"We know how disruptive it is if you lose your water supply, so we'll work hard to get things back to normal as soon as we can," Thames Water said.
Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.
Number of burst mains 'not normal' - water bosses say
Collapsed road reopens after burst water main
Water returning after burst pipe closes schools
Thames Water

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Delight as 'Bambi' baby deer spotted behind Manchester city centre nightclub
Delight as 'Bambi' baby deer spotted behind Manchester city centre nightclub

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Delight as 'Bambi' baby deer spotted behind Manchester city centre nightclub

A baby deer has been spotted close to Manchester city centre, more evidence that wildlife is returning. The creature was seen on a riverside path, behind Hidden nightclub off the A56 Bury New Road, at about 8.30pm on Friday evening. Support worker Tom Lightbown, 36, was walking along a path beside the River Irwell on the way to the shops when he spotted the baby deer (fawn) ahead of him. It's just a few minutes' walk to the AO Arena. Tom shared his pictures with the Manchester Evening News. He said: "I was just going shopping into the city centre. I was walking up a path and as I got around the corner, it was just standing in the pathway. I just stopped. I didn't want to carry on walking towards it because there is a road on the other side and if I scared it, it's going to run potentially into the road. READ MORE: LIVE updates as M60 drivers face long delays following serious crash which saw seven taken to hospital READ MORE: LIVE updates as the Red Arrows fly over the North West "I stood still watching it for a while. It came onto the path and started walking towards me. It was quite a nice experience, actually. It was a very nice experience, seeing a creature like that in the city centre. It was quite surprising. I've seen urban foxes before but I've never seen a deer. "It's quite a shy animal to be so close to an urban area." It's not the first time deer have been spotted in urban areas, but rarely has one so young come so close to Manchester city centre. In 2021 a deer was spotted near HMG Paints in Collyhurst Road gambolling in the grass near the factory near a stretch of the River Irk near Cheetham Hill. Staff at the company had previously seen fish, stoats and even otters but never deer. In 2019 a deer was spotted swimming alongside the ducks in a canal near Castlefield. The animal was later spotted heading towards the Palace Theatre with more sightings on Oxford Road. An otter was spotted in in a stretch of the Irwell, close to Manchester city centre, in June 2023. The animal was seen underneath the Trinity Bridge close to the Lowry Hotel. It followed a previous otter sighting in December 2020 which at the time was described as a 'big deal'. Mike Duddy, a project manager with the Mersey Rivers Trust, said then that otters and other fish being spotted had become more common as the condition of Manchester's waterways had improved. Peregrine falcons have been a feature of the city centre for years. The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester And North Merseyside is campaigning to 're-wild' Manchester, through its 'Nature Recovery Network' for the city to encourage more frogs, bats, bees, starlings and wildflowers. The trust says on its website: "Working with the Greater Manchester Ecology Unit we are looking in detail at where the different wild places are situated across Manchester, as well the distribution of a number of different plant and animal species. This information will be used to help us create a Nature Recovery Network map for the city which will identify priority habitats and wildlife corridors."

Urgent call for south London blood donors amid 'slump' after bank holidays
Urgent call for south London blood donors amid 'slump' after bank holidays

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Urgent call for south London blood donors amid 'slump' after bank holidays

NHS Blood and Transplant is asking South Londoners to help fill a donation shortfall caused by recent bank holidays. There are hundreds of appointments available at Brixton Donor Centre, with 1,000 slots needing to be filled each week to meet demand. The high number of bank holidays, combined with the start of the half-term break, has increased pressure on blood stocks. The NHS is particularly keen to see new and lapsed donors return. Brixton Donor Centre welcomes life-saving donors to South London (Image: NHS) Gerry Gogarty, director of blood supply at NHS Blood and Transplant, said: "The need for blood never stops. "We are extremely grateful to everyone who has donated so far this year, but we must act now to avoid falling behind. "To avoid facing a 'spring slump' in donations, we urgently need donors to book an appointment today – and help us fill appointments over the weeks ahead. "If you can't find an appointment straightaway, please book further ahead or keep checking back to help fill last-minute availability or cancellations. "Each donation has the power to save up to three lives." There is a particular need for donors of black heritage to meet the growing need for blood to treat sickle cell, the country's fastest-growing inherited blood disorder, which predominantly affects black communities. Black heritage donors are 10 times more likely than the white population to have the specific Ro blood type used to treat sickle cell patients. Around 1,300 black donors a month are needed to provide life-saving transfusions to sickle cell patients, as well as for use in emergencies, childbirth, during surgery, cancer treatments, and other medical conditions. Brixton Donor Centre, which opened in December 2024, has had 7 per cent of all donations with the in-demand Ro subtype, compared with 2 per cent nationally. South Londoners with O negative, O positive and A positive blood types are also being encouraged to donate, as these blood groups are in high demand. Brixton Blood Donor Centre manager Rexford Osei-Bonsu said: "I'm immensely proud of the thousands of people who have given blood in Brixton, but the holidays have meant that we need more people to come forward. "Giving blood is easy and painless and takes about an hour of your time to make a life-saving difference." Appointments can be made by calling 0300 123 2323 or visiting "We have the capacity to deliver more than 1,000 appointments a week and are happy to work round your availability, whether that's on your way to work, during your lunch break or as you head home."

Birmingham's on-the-run bull rehomed in Norfolk after ‘unexpected' city break
Birmingham's on-the-run bull rehomed in Norfolk after ‘unexpected' city break

Yahoo

time3 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Birmingham's on-the-run bull rehomed in Norfolk after ‘unexpected' city break

A bull spotted trotting through city streets – after apparently escaping from an abattoir – has been given a new home by an animal sanctuary. The stray bovine, thought to be around two years old, was safely contained by Birmingham City Council staff on Friday after being spotted by startled passers-by in New Bond Street, Digbeth, shortly before 9.30am. Street cleaning crews corralled what the council described as the 'beautiful albeit misplaced' animal until it was checked over by an animal welfare team and then transferred to the care of West Midlands Police. Wendy Valentine, founder of the Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Frettenham, near Norwich, said of the bull: 'We became aware of his desperate break for freedom when we received multiple calls from concerned supporters asking if we could help. 'We sprang into action and negotiated with the Birmingham police, assuring them that we could give him a secure home here at Hillside. 'With nobody coming forward to claim him, they agreed that we could collect him and bring him to our sanctuary.' The bull, which arrived at Hillside at about 2.45am on Saturday, has been named Liam and will now live out its natural life with the sanctuary's 750 other rescued cattle. A video released by the sanctuary showed the bull munching hay in its new surroundings around a minute after its arrival. Council staff efforts to keep the animal and the public safe won praise from councillor Majid Mahmood, Birmingham's cabinet member for environment and transport, who wrote beside a picture of the bull on X: 'This magnificent animal seemed to be enjoying an unexpected break, but our amazing street cleansing staff weren't phased at all, helping moving it into a safe place. 'Well done to our animal welfare staff & park rangers.' Footage of the bull amid city traffic went viral on social media on Friday, prompting jokes it may be heading towards Birmingham's Bull Ring shopping area.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store