Large swathes of Bradford were left without water tonight after one of the city’s main water supply pipes burst.

Major roads were closed and residents across the city were left with no water after the pipe burst in White Abbey Road, Girlington, at about 8.40pm.

Engineers from Yorkshire Water were tonight working furiously to isolate the burst and re-route supplies to homes and businesses.

Emergency services had to close off parts of Thornton Road, near the city centre, after it became flooded from the water flowing from the burst pipe, known as the Bradford Main Ring.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: “We have got guys out on site now and what they are trying to do is isolate that section of the pipe where the burst is so once they have done that they can re-route supplies.

“But because it is quite a big main it is affecting quite a large area of Bradford.” Yorkshire Water last night said homes in postcodes across the Bradford district were affected, including Manningham, Eccleshill, Laisterdyke, Bierley and Shipley.

The spokesman said: “They might not all be without water, they may have low pressure. Our first priority is to turn it off and then re-route customers’ supplies and any customers that have been affected, we will work with them.

“Obviously we apologise and will be working as quickly as we possibly can to get them all back on.”

Firefighters were called to the scene at about 9pm following reports of flooding from Thornton Road and White Abbey Road.