A BURST water main could cause weeks of chaos in the south of the borough.

Water could be seen pouring onto the railway line down an embankment near Moses Gate station, in Farnworth, on Thursday evening, leaving residents without water for several hours.

But the effects of the burst, which it is believed was caused by part of the road collapsing near the railway’s banking, are far from over.

Although the water supply has been restored, United Utilities say that the main is too badly damaged to repair it is likely to take at least 10 days to lay a new stretch of pipe.

The busy junction of Bolton Road and Egerton Street — which thousands of cars pass through every day — remains closed, with traffic to and from Bolton town centre sent on a 2.5 mile diversion route via Bradford Road.

It is not known how long the road will remain closed for while the water company and Network Rail carry out extensive repairs.

The cost of burst water pipe chaos in Farnworth to businesses

A United Utilities spokesman said: “Our engineers worked through the night dealing with a burst water main on the railway bridge on Bolton Road near the junction with Egerton Street in Farnworth.

"It affected water supplies across the local area and we took calls from around 300 customers.

"We managed to re-route water to the area using alternative pipes and we also used a number of our Water on Wheels tankers to pump into the network. Water supplies were restored to most customers by 2am.

"Some customers have reported that their water looks a little discoloured, which is quite common after a burst when changes in water pressure cause naturally occurring sediment to be disturbed in the pipes. We'd advise customers to let the tap run gently until it clears.

"The water pipe is too badly damaged to be repaired so we are planning to lay a new stretch of pipe to bypass that section - this work is likely to take at least a week. We will be working in the existing road closure where Network Rail have been working on the bridge and our investigations into what caused the pipe to burst are ongoing.

“It’s far too early to say how much the repair work will cost. We’ve now put measure in place to bypass the damaged pipe so customers won’t be impacted by the on-going work we need to carry out.”

Network Rail added that the cause of the burst remain unknown at this stage and that they were assessing the extent of the damage to the bridge.

A spokesman said: “Work at Bolton station is continuing as planned, and we are in contact with United Utilities and Bolton council about repairs to the burst water main."

Work had been ongoing at Moses Gate as part of a wider project to electrify the Manchester to Preston train line, which has also closed Bolton station for 16 days.

Residents fear that the severe congestion they witnessed on the roads today will continue for some time.

Umar Mustafa, of Bradford Road, said: "It has been manic. There is always a lot of traffic here, but the last 24 hours has been ridiculous.

"I had to leave 15 minutes early just to get to the bottom of Bradford Road. But there is nothing we can do here, we just have to put up with it."

A Bolton Council spokesman said: "Bolton Road will remain closed at its junction with Egerton Street, near Moses Gate Railway Station.

"Traffic is being diverted via Green Lane, Bradford Road, Plodder Lane and Glynne Street.

"Rail replacement bus services are also being diverted. Please check with Transport for Greater Manchester for updates.

"We are liaising closely with Network Rail and United Utilities and we will update the public about how long the road needs to remain closed to enable work to take place."