Business owners say they are feeling the strain after a burst pipe has blocked their road off to customers for a week.

A water main in Daisy Road, South Woodford, has been spewing water into the street since last Wednesday, causing knock-on problems including power cuts in the area.

Two garages based in the road now say the length of time it is taking for Thames Water to put repairs in place is affecting their business.

Jackie Burvill, of Woodbridge Autos, said: “We cannot get that many cars up here, we have had to cancel quite a few jobs because of this.

“We are trying to limit ourselves to two jobs a day because we cannot get the cars in and out.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

“We service quite a lot of big vans and lorries here and we have had to cancel all of those jobs, for us it is pretty bad.”

Nick Wright, owner of the neighbouring Roberts Motorworks, said his business was causing power outages caused by the burst pipe.

“We must have had at least 20 people from Thames Water down since this has happened and I cannot get an answer out of anyone as to what is going on,” he said.

“People cannot come in because the road is blocked and it is beginning to affect the electrics, it keeps flickering in and out.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

“The Salvation Army down the road had to send a group of old people home the other day, they had 47 dinners in the oven and the power went out.

“I can see it is difficult but how long is this going to go on for? It is already been going on for a week now and it is ridiculous, nothing has been happening and look at all the water that is being wasted”.

Thames Water said work had taken place on Monday to understand and fix the problem, adding it was also working with power companies to restore electricity.

However, when the Guardian Series visited Daisy Road on Tuesday, water was still flooding out into the street.

A spokesman for the utilities company said: “We’re working with the power company to resolve the problem, and complete the repair.”