Burst pipes 'had been reported'

ANGRY business owners said today the burst water main which has caused chaos in the city centre had been a disaster waiting to happen.

Traders on Thistle Street say they had reported burst pipes and damage to the road in recent weeks but said nothing had been done. Several restaurants were forced to close on Saturday when confronted with a river of water running down the street.

Henderson's restaurant was unable to reopen until yesterday after bailing out more than six inches of water.

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Gas supplies later had to be turned off at more than 2,000 properties in the New Town, Stockbridge and Canonmills areas as a safety precaution.

An official investigation is under way, but local businesses believe the incident could have been prevented.

Peter Henderson, co-owner of Henderson's, said: "The various authorities have been fully aware of the Thistle Street traders' concerns about the state of the street, which has been allowed to get into a very sorry and dangerous state.

"We have had a series of burst pipes over the last weeks and months."

When water started gushing into the restaurant in the morning, ten staff worked with buckets to scoop it out, but it is estimated that the business has lost 5,000.

Scottish Water was called to the scene at 7am when water started erupting from the road, but Mr Henderson said engineers did not arrive until 10:45am.

The Dogs restaurant on Hanover Street was also forced to shut its doors because it cannot operate without a gas supply.

Scotland Gas Networks (SGN) visited the restaurant on Monday but was unable to say when the gas would be switched back on.

Many properties could be without a supply for several days.

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The Dogs owner David Ramsden said: "This is a nightmare because no-one knows when things will go back to normal. SGN contacted us on Saturday to say they were doing their best to resolve the situation, but they turned up today with no news. We've had lots of cancellations and some negative feedback from customers."

Another affected business, Covet, on Thistle Street, was evacuated at noon on Saturday. Owners Blaise Donald and Anna Somerville were asked to leave by police and were not allowed to return until after 3pm.

Ms Donald said: "The hole in the middle of the road was gushing water before we even arrived to open up.

"We are lucky because our shop isn't underground like some businesses on the street. But we still lost out on half a day's takings."

A spokesman for Scottish Water said the company was working hard to solve the gas and flood problems.

SGN said gas had been restored to 60 houses on Fettes Row but engineers were still working to restore the majority of supplies.