Benwell Road was closed off after a pipe burst

MORE gallons of water have vanished down the storm drain in Islington this week after a mains pipe burst next to the Emirates Stadium.

Residents in Benwell Road watched nervously as water bubbled up from large cracks in the tarmac on Saturday evening.

It followed last week’s major flood in nearby Hornsey Road that left homes and businesses damaged and people wading through knee-deep water.

It comes as Thames Water announce a hosepipe ban leading to possible fines for residents who waste water unnecessarily.

Resident Carole Heath said: “I was worried it would come into the house, considering how bad it was – and we’re in the basement. It’s making me think: how bad are the water pipes in the area?”

She added: “The biggest thing for me is water wastage.”

“It felt like the entire street had cracked,” said Wassim, another resident who lives in a basement flat in Benwell Road.

“From a humanitarian and environmental perspective, it’s sad that water is being wasted,” he added.

On Thursday last week Canonbury Road was also partially flooded.

Thames Water is a private company supplying customers in southern England with billions of litres of water a day. But statistics show the business also loses a daily total of roughly 600 million litres through leaky pipes – almost a quarter of its daily supply.

The company, which was privatised in 1989 and last year made profits of £488million, has recently come under fire for prioritising bosses’ bonuses over fixing leaky pipes.

The Liberal Democrats have suggested water company bosses should be banned from awarding themselves bonuses until England’s pipes are fixed. Analysis by the party found executives at water and sewage companies earned £48m in 2020 and 2021.

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “The burst caused two cracks to the road and our engineers were on the scene as quickly as possible.

“Our engineers have already carried out the work to replace the burst water pipe. The temporary traffic lights remain in place as they work to repair the damage caused to the road. We expect to open the road soon and apologise for any inconvenience caused.

“We know it’s not acceptable to be losing so much precious water but we’re doing something about it and our shareholders have recently approved an additional £2billion into the business so we can improve outcomes for customers, leakage and river health.”