Hundreds were left without water or with little water pressure over the last few days.

Affinity Water received complaints of water shortages in various roads across Barnet and Southgate since Saturday last week, and have been investigating to figure out the source of the problem.

The resulting issue was a burst water main on one of the smaller pipelines, and further leaks and bursts across the network over subsequent days.

On Monday, it was realised that some business may have internal leaks which were undetected over the weekend, and a large air pocket appeared in the large main at Meadway in Barnet.

Some residents required bottle water from the provider in order to complete their daily tasks.

London Assembly member for Barnet and Camden Andrew Dismore has written to Affinity Water in response to the problems experienced by residents.

He said: "I hear of water supply problems in Barnet more and more often. Last year the supply went down for a few days due to a faulty valve.

"Water is a human right, and no one can survive without it, therefore failures in supply are not acceptable or tolerable going forward.

"It seems to me that the original privatisation of the utilities has led to considerable underinvestment in the assets and pipes over the years, and we are now paying the price."

He questioned the company's chief executive, Simon Cocks, about how these issues will be fixed and managed in the future.

An Affinity Water spokesperson said: “We are very sorry to all those who experienced low water pressure or an interruption to their supply over the past few days and we would like to thank them for their patience.

“Like most water companies across the UK, following the recent freeze and rapid thaw, we have experienced high levels of water demand due to bursts on our network and leaks in and on customer properties.

“We delivered bottled water to our most vulnerable customers and mobilised every available technician to assist in the location and repair of bursts along our network in and around the Barnet area and our teams worked night and day to do this.

“We appreciate our customers’ actions to continue to save water and fix leaks on their supply pipes and plumbing, which is helping to bring down the demand for water."

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