AN academy was forced to close for a day after a water main burst in the building.

Greensward Academy, which is based on Greensward Lane, Hockley, was closed yesterday after a pipe burst in the school’s boiler room, leaving the school without any running water or working toilets.

After it was decided that the school should be shut, a spokesman took to its Twitter account to make the announcement, saying: “Due to a burst water pipe Greensward Academy will be closed today to students.

“Year 11s who are going on the geography field trip should still come to school at the planned time as the trip will go ahead.”

Throughout yesterday, engineers worked hard to get the school back into working order.

The school had hoped it would be open today and was waiting to be given the all clear from engineers to reopen, but could not confirm whether things would be back and running as normal before the Echo went to print.

Greensward Academy headteacher, Katie Scarnell, said: “There was a burst water pipe in the boiler room, but thankfully there’s been no damage made to the school.

“As a result, all the water was cut off, meaning there was no running water or working toilets. This meant we had to close the school for a day.

“All school trips however carried on as normal. Engineers were there all day to resolve the burst, and we hope to be running again on Thursday.

“Should this not happen, we’re certain it will be back open by Friday.”

Councillor Adrian Eves, representative for Hockley, said: “I’m sorry to hear that the school have had to close as a result of the burst.

“This is a very stressful time of year for the students, with their very important exams coming up quite soon.

“As important as it is that this work is carried out and the pipe is fixed, I hope this doesn’t have a knock-on effect on the kids in their mock exams.

“Thankfully, the fact that there’s no damage should speed up the process of getting the school back to normal.

“I hope things are back up and running as soon as possible so the children can continue their studies ahead of their exams.”