Water everywhere but not a drop to drink at flooded pub

A WATERFRONT bar is counting the cost of a burst water pipe which has forced it to close for the last three days.

The Old Chain Pier in Newhaven turned away 50 customers on Sunday after water flooded into the forecourt and threatened to stream into the bar.

Scottish Water turned off the supply at that point, and the popular pub has now had its doors shut for three days, after several repairs carried out by the organisation failed.

Manager Brian Donnelly, furious at the business his bar has lost, hit out at Scottish Water for not nipping the problem in the bud sooner.

But the organisation defended itself, saying the burst pipe was proving "complex" to remedy.

Mr Donnelly said: "We've not been here that long and we're still trying to build up custom and this kind of thing, which isn't our fault, completely sets us back.

"An initial leak started on Friday, but it's when I came in on Sunday morning that the problems started.

"I was greeted by a virtual swimming pool outside the bar and if it hadn't been for staff taking measures the pub would have been flooded.

"Three days have passed now and Scottish Water don't seem to know what they're doing. Three times repairs they've put in haven't worked and it's this business that's suffering."

When quick-thinking staff at the pub on Trinity Crescent saw the water lapping dangerously close to the door they grabbed sandbags and barriers from nearby roadworks to safeguard the interior. But Mr Donnelly is unsure how much of the projected loss of earnings he will be able to claim back on insurance.

He said: "We're looking at it just now, but until this gets fixed for good we won't really know.

"There must have been thousands of gallons of fresh water gushing out into the Forth."If we've no water we can't open. Not only did we have to turn away customers on Sunday but we've had to cancel bookings as well, which is never an ideal scenario."

A spokeswoman for Scottish Water said it was an intricate repair which occurred in a double bend. She said: "It's a burst 9in main and is very complex and we have a team there just now planning it. Because there's a double bend of a pipe and it's on sandy terrain it isn't as straightforward."

• www.scottishwater.co.uk