UNITED Utilities has been congratulated for its response to a burst water main in Barrow.

Cllr Mel Worth, who lives on Walney, said he reported the fault at 5.10am on Saturday after being unable to get any water in North Scale.

It followed a burst 12-inch water main near Furness College on the corner of Bessemer Way and Ironworks Road.

Cllr Worth told a meeting of Barrow Local Committee that he had criticised the company in the past but was pleased with its service.

He said: “It’s only fair that if I am quick to criticise I should be quick to congratulate. On Saturday I got up at 5am and at 5.10am I had to call United Utilities on their emergency line because we didn’t have any water. It’s hardly the end of the world, but extremely inconvenient.”

Cllr Worth, the Labour councillor for Walney North, said the company told him they would send someone out within 30 minutes and keep him informed throughout the day.

He said: “We had four or five water tankers parked along the Promenade during Saturday morning so that when they switched off the mains to do the repair, they could pump water into the system. I understand all of Walney was off and some of Barrow.

"I’d like to congratulate United Utilities in that my water was only off for two hours yet the work they had to do was quite substantial because of the size of the water main. I think their procedures and keeping people advised as to how it all was going, was pretty good.”

He joked that with the scale of the flooding there were plans to rename the road “Ironworks Rio”.