NEARLY 10,000 homes across West Devon remain without a full water supply this afternoon after a water main burst over the bank holiday weekend.

South West Water customers who live the areas of Tavistock, Yelverton, Whitchurch, Horrabridge, Bere Alston, Woolwell and Roborough have been affected.

Bottled water supply points have been opened up by South West Water at the George Park and Ride site on the outskirts of Plymouth, at Bere Alston Bowling Club and Knightstone Tearooms near Crapstone and at Morrisons off Plymouth Road, Tavistock.

Horrabridge, Whitchurch, Bere Alston, St Peter’s Junior in Tavistock and Bickleigh Down schools are closed today (Tuesday), due to the lack of water.

In Tavistock, there is a limited supply this afternoon and low water pressure, leading to businesses having to close and the public toilets are out of action.

A South West Water (SWW) spokesperson said this morning: “We have nearly 9,500 properties we are working very hard to restore full supply to – we have a very large network so this will take time and it’s really important we restore supply as quickly and as safely as possible.

“The burst was isolated and fixed quickly and we are now in the final phase of restoring supply.”

The burst water main was at the Dousland water treatment works, and burst late on Easter Sunday evening.

It has now been fixed but South West Water said restoring water to all properties affected was proving “complex”.

Yesterday cafes and pubs in the area were forced to close and the annual duck race in Milton Combe could not go ahead.

The duck race in Milton Combe raises essential funds for the village hall.

The annual event relies on the ‘Who’d have thought it Inn’ in the village for food, drinks, toilets and the forecourt of the pub for the event. As the pub had to close due to having no water supply, the race has been postponed until the early May Bank Holiday on May 5.

Val Bolitho, committee member of the Milton Combe Village Hall, said: “It’s unfortunate that the water burst happened over Easter weekend because a lot of charity and community events will have been cancelled and missed out on quite an important part of their income.

“All I felt was disappointment to hear that the duck race would be postponed. It’s one of the biggest fundraising events we hold for the village hall and it’s really important.”

Val will be spending the rest of the day adding ‘5th of May’ stickers to the already existing duck race posters in hopes that the event will still bring in large crowds.

The event normally raises around £300 which is “essential” for the village hall.

The water company said on social media: "We understand how crucial access to water is, and we are committed to providing you with fair compensation for the inconvenience experienced.

"We will provide further updates on the specific compensation amounts in due course.

"We're grateful for everyone's patience and understanding while we've worked to put things right."

Teams were “working around the clock” to restore water, the spokesperson added.

All those affected will be entitled to compensation, which is set by water regulator Ofwat.