By Callum Faulds
Residents in two Leicester streets were without water for more than 24 hours after an underground electrical fault.
Buildings along both Grange Lane and Oxford Street in Leicester were affected, as well as Evans Student Living flats, leaving many students without water.
Westmanor Student Living was informed that the services would either be off or interrupted from 4pm onwards on Friday, January 25.
However, Westmanor employees were not aware that it would cause interruptions for the whole weekend, a problem only noticed when they turned up on the Monday morning with no power.
Some students went more than 24 hours without their water working.
Rachael Pengelly, a third year student at De Montfort University, and resident of Evans, said: “It was really inconvenient. I couldn’t have a glass of water when I needed one, have a wash, or use the toilet.
Ms Pengelly continued: “It was a really annoying 24 hours.”
Following the arrival of the Westmanor employees on Monday morning, a meeting was held with Western Power and the landlord.
It was reported there had been an underground fault with electrical cabling causing power surges and then a small explosion.
This caused automatic safety systems to shut down, including all services in Grange Lane and some buildings along Oxford Street.
Although Westmanor staff were absent during the weekend, the landlord, Western Power, Regent Security, and a number of other teams were on site and worked tirelessly to rectify the issues.
Residents in Grange Lane were later assured that all buildings are completely safe and that there is no need for any concern.
