A tower block was left without power for around 13 hours after a faulty water pipe flooded lift shafts and communal areas.

The leak was reported in the Blenheim Court block on the Orchard estate in Woodford Green yesterday morning, with power turned off at around 9.30am as a safety precaution.

Families were evacuated while contractors worked to stem the leak, and power was eventually restored at around 11pm.

On a bitterly cold day, residents were offered food and shelter in the estate’s community centre.

Cllr Gwyneth Deakins of Roding ward visited the estate in the afternoon.

She said: “The Red Cross brought torches down and council officers, residents and contractors knocked on doors in the block to ensure that any vulnerable residents were alright.

“I understand some people did choose to stay in their flats.

“There was provision in place for people to be transferred to emergency accommodation, but I think that residents returned to their flats.

“I was impressed to see how hard contractors and council officers were working to resolve the problem when I visited.”

Contractors are currently carrying out work in all the blocks on the estate to install a state of the art energy saving heating system.

Cllr Deakins confirmed that the problem had been caused by a fault with some new pipework but said she believed it had not flooded any homes.

She said: “The pipe runs down the middle of the block so it affected things like the lift shaft and the stairwells.

“The power had to be turned off as a precaution while contractors worked on the pipe.”

It is unclear at this time how much damage has been caused by the leak or when work will resume.

Cllr Deakins said she had been told that contractors were checking pipes in the estate’s other blocks.

A spokeswoman for the council said: "The fault was caused by a component failure to a bellow joint which caused water to leak out of the system.

"The water flowed down the stairwell and into the electrical intake cupboard which caused which resulted in a fuse blowing.

"When the power went down at 7am swift action was taken by council staff and Carillion (the contractor carrying out the works on the estate).

"By 9.30am a respite area was set up in the Orchard Community Hall. Everyone was looked after and warm food and drinks were provided for those residents who needed it.

"During the incident Council staff, contractors, Councillors and residents all worked together as a team. Residents were provided with food, torches and blankets along with a hot meal in the evening.

"Doors were knocked on to make sure vulnerable tenants were identified and looked after properly. Councillor Dunn, Cabinet Member for Housing also helped out on site and made sure the children had fun and were kept entertained.

"Residents were very understanding and appreciative of the efforts everyone made.

"The power was restored at 11pm. No residents were put into temporary accommodation.

"This will not set back the works at Blenheim Court. Works to the windows and external wall installations are unaffected.

"Investigations are underway to find the exact cause of the component failure. In the meantime, precautions have been taken and all the suspected components on the system have been replaced with those from another manufacturer."