A BURST water pipe at a WGC shopping centre has left several shops without water today (Monday).

The Howard Centre has been forced to cut off its water supply to its first floor shops - following a leak in a riser which will require major plumbing work.

The leak was uncovered yesterday by centre security guards, who were alerted to the problem after finding large pools of water forming on the first floor.

Shirley Legate, the Howard Centre’s marketing manager, said repair work would be carried out tonight.

“It is quite a major leak and we’ve had to close off our water supply to our first floor shops,” she said.

“Because it is a big job, the work will have to be undertaken out-of–hours, and we’ve got a plumber coming in tonight.

“We’ll be back up and running as normal tomorrow.”

Ms Legate added that the first floor toilets were still in use, and shops such as Starbucks and Muffin Break, which have their own water tanks, would be trading as normal.

But she admitted that other businesses would be affected by the leak.