'Do I cook or wash?' ask residents without water

"It has been 48 hours without water," says a frustrated resident living in a block of flats in Peterborough after a bin store fire destroyed its communal water tank.

About 300 people are without running water following the accidental blaze at Varity House on Vicarage Farm Road shortly before 10:00 BST on Saturday, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said.

Ryan Gilmore, who lives with his partner at Varity House, said: "It has been two days now, no flushing water, no showers, nothing from a tap - it's really bad."

IPM Ltd, which manages the building, said it had been unable to restore the water supply over the weekend but expected repairs to begin in the coming days.

The management company has since handed out bottled water and installed portable toilets in the site's car park.

Anglian Water also delivered 12 litres of water to everyone living in the 111 flats, but many residents felt more support and communication was needed from IPM.

One resident, who the BBC has agreed not to name, said: "It's been 48 hours now. That water is barely enough - we are having to choose between drinking, cooking or cleaning ourselves."

Another resident, who the BBC has agreed not to name, has young children and described the situation as "very tough".

Gilmore said: "IPM brought, I believe, about five to 10 litres [of water] per flat, which is not exactly great when you consider the average toilet flush is about six litres.

"It's only since the council got involved that things have really started to move on.

"There are lots of young families here. I also know there are elderly people who aren't as mobile. So when we got the water dropped off, we've handed them out to people that need it most.

"There are families here that are on lower incomes that don't have access to transport. The nearest shop here is about a good 20-minute walk easily, so it's really, really bad at the minute."

He said he had been relying on the gym at his office to shower and using facilities at his partner's workplace.

"I know it's the first world moan and we are lucky enough that we can go around there. But it's just weird to have to go outside to use the portable toilets. It's a bit Glastonbury," he added.

Dominika Petukova, who lives in the block with her parents and two sisters, said the situation had become increasingly difficult.

"It was a huge fire. The smell was really bad. My dad's car was just opposite [the fire] so we were scared if something's going to happen to the car. There was black stuff everywhere it was just a really horrible scene to see," she said.

She added: "It's been two days now. We can't brush our teeth, use the bathroom, or shower. There's five of us in the house. We all have basic hygiene needs, and then again cooking as well, we need water for that too.

"We can't use the portable loos. We don't feel safe using them, especially at night."

Another resident called Paige - the BBC has agreed to not include her surname - said she did not feel "safe" using the portable toilets, adding: "We've got family that we're staying with, so we're OK, but it's a bit of a stressful situation.

"It's difficult for everyone, I'm a nurse, I do 14-hour shifts. I want to come home and be able to have a shower and I can't even do that.

"It's just not good enough and we don't even know when it's going to get fixed, just a timeline would be nice," she said.

Shabina Qayyum, the Labour leader of Peterborough City Council, who also represents the East ward in which the Varity House is located, called the incident "worrying".

"The council's emergency planning teams were triggered over the weekend and I with councillor Numan Iqbal alongside senior service director on call were on site to meet residents to see the extent of the issue," she added.

"I am pleased to say that our housing enforcement team has been incredibly conscientious in pushing the management company to get a structural engineer out so that the water supply can be restored as soon as possible. I have made clear that [portable loos] and bottled water are not good enough."

She praised Anglian Water "who have been absolutely amazing", and had sent "a whole lorry load of water".

IPM Ltd previously said: "We fully appreciate how difficult and disruptive this situation is for everyone, and we sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused."

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