A PRIMARY school in East Sussex was forced to close for an hour yesterday after its water supply was stopped.

Newick Church of England Primary School in Allington Road, Lewes, was forced to close its doors and send pupils home until the problem was fixed.

A spokesperson for Newick Church of England Primary School said: “We had no working toilets, we had no drinking water, we had no water at all.

“It was an unfortunate situation because some parents had already made arrangements and then had to bring their children back into school.”

A spokesman from South East Water said that they became aware of a temporary loss of water in the area of Newick Sussex on Tuesday morning.

The spokesman also said: “It was initially thought that the loss of water was due to a booster failure or a burst main, but it was soon discovered to be the result of flushing.

“This is a routine activity that maintains the quality of water supplies and in this instance the flushing disrupted supplies of properties on higher ground.”

Water companies periodically flush water mains to remove deposits such as iron and manganese from the water supply to keep it fresh.

Flushing was suspended for the day and South East Water will now be carrying out routine checks overnight when demand for water is lower.