A TEAM of engineers have been working through the day after hundreds of homes and schools were hit by a main water pipe burst in Hindley Green.

Wigan Council informed parents and children this morning that schools were forced to shut due to water supply problems caused by a burst main on Alder Lane.

The schools closed due to the major leak included Sacred Heart Catholic, Hindley Green Community and St John’s CE primary schools.

Some schools tried to open but were forced to cancel their lessons.

United Utilities engineers began repairing the pipe at 8.15am and had fixed it by 'lunchtime'.

Homes across Hindley Green and Leigh and residents in the WN2 postcode have been affected by the leak.

Some had no water supply at all while others had only a small amount coming from their taps.

Water flow is now back to normal and the closed schools are expected to reopen tomorrow, Thursday.

A United Utilities spokesman said: "We are very sorry for the disruption the burst water main on Alder Lane had on some of our customers trying to get on with their daily routine, as we do understand a number of schools closed due to this issue.

"We did manage to move water around our network to minimise the impact while we repaired the damaged water pipe.

"Our engineers fixed the pipe by lunchtime.

"Thank you for bearing with us during this time."