Sandwick pupils’ holiday extended by a day after water main incident

Sandwick Junior High School pupils had an unexpected extension to their holiday today when they were sent home on their first day back because the school had no mains water supply. The fault, which affected the wider Sandwick area, was caused by a local contactor digging through a water main.

Shetland Islands Council’s children’s services took the decision to close the school at noon. Buses were arranged to pick up the children from the school and all parents were advised that they could also pick up children from the school.

A spokesman for Scottish Water said: “A contractor accidentally went through a water main about 9am and told us about it. Our men went out and fixed it and the water came back on about noon. We’re not aware of it affecting many people and we got it fixed quite quickly.”