A BURST water pipe has caused major disruption to supplies across part of Bolton town centre.

Businesses and homes suffered a drastic reduction in water pressure on Thursday - and the problems were continuing on Friday.

Emergency repair crews sent out by United Utilities worked on the problem throughout Thursday.

They managed to isolate the leak to a main pipe in the Kay Street area and work was continuing on Friday.

Rachel Fielding, deputy salon manager at Saks Hair and Beauty on Churchgate, said staff had only been able to run one tap at a time but had not had to turn any customers away.

She said: "It has been inconvenient because it has taken twice as long to deal with people."

Steven Smith, manager of the Pepper Alley pub, on Bank Street, said he had considered closing early on Thursday, but the water to his premises had come back on time.

He said they needed full water pressure to clear out beer lines and for washing up in the kitchen.

"We need the taps on full, so it's lucky they came back on in time or we would have struggled," he said.

Although the water at Pepper Alley returned to normal on Thursday morning, other businesses continued to be affected by the drop in pressure.

A spokesman for United Utilities said: "The burst is affecting water pressure to some properties in the area. We are getting on with repairing it and it is a priority. We have identified the burst, but it will take time to dig down and then to repair it.

"We were hoping to get the main repaired on Thursday but we have had to get a special part made overnight."

The part arrived on site on Friday morning.

He said United Utilities had redirected water from alternative water supplies.