School 'evacuated' as water supplies cut off

An emergency message was sent out by staff at St Nicholas Primary school in School Road, Marton late on Friday morning.

A leak has cut off supplies to a number of properties in the FY4 postcode area.

St Nicholas headteacher Andy Mellor said most of the children had now been collected and made clear he had no option but to close the school.

He said: "At the moment we have no water at all on site.

"That is a major problem when you have 450 children and no flushing toilets.

"We made the decision to carry out an evacuation of the school to parents."

E-mails and text messages were sent instructing parents to collect their children as soon as possible.

A message was also sent out on the school's class Dojo system, which parents can access and through Blackpool Council.

Mr Mellor said: "We have had a very orderly evacuation and the majority of children have now gone home. A handful remain with us.

"Staff will remain on site with them until they are collected.

"It is a difficult decision to make to close the school but in this instance it was the only clear choice.

"It would not have been appropriate to keep the school open without the appropriate sanitation.

"We have plans in place for this kind of incident and things have gone very smoothly.

"I understand the disruption and inconvenience to parents and thank them for their patience and response."

Mr Mellor hopes supplies will be restored over the weekend.

He said: "The fact it is Friday afternoon gives us more time to get this resolved."

United Utilities said customers in the FY4 area were suffering no supply or reduced pressure as results of a burst main.

The incident is understood to be centred on Midgeland Road and Moss House Road.