A BURST water main that caused chaos in Cardigan on Saturday may have been deliberately damaged.

Businesses, cafes and households throughout the town were left high and dry without water on Cardigan Fair day – traditionally one of the busiest days of the year in town.

Dwr Cymru is looking into the incident and a spokesman said: “We are investigating the cause of a burst water main in the Cardigan area on Saturday. We have found that there was a sudden increase in water flow through our network on the day, and the resulting high pressure caused the water main to burst.

“While we are looking into the reasons for this, it is possible it was caused by illegal use of one of our fire hydrants to access water.

“We successfully restored water supply to all affected customers on Saturday by redirecting water through the system, and we are sorry for any inconvenience caused by the burst main.”

With the fair in full swing and hundreds of visitors flocking to the town, cafes and other traders were forced to close their doors as they did not have water, costing thousands of pounds in lost takings.

The castle was among those businesses forced to close.

Matthew Phillips, from Pearl’s Café, had gone in to work at 5.30am and had no water then. His supply finally returned at 4.30pm.

“On any other day this would have been bad enough but on fair day, one of the busiest in the year, it’s a joke. It is so, so frustrating and there’s nothing we can do about it,” he said.

“One of the most annoying things was the lack of communication. Surely they could have sent someone in to town to let people know what was going on? On a big day like this it’s no joke and I am sure businesses will be looking at compensation.”

Jane Roche, at the Fisherman’s Rest, said: “We know how busy we were last year and town seemed even busier this year. The car parks were full and yet we couldn’t open and we also had to tell the staff not to come in.”

Businesses affected can contact Dwr Cymru at www.dwrcymru.com or call the wholesale service centre on 0800 052 0130, where they will be able to get advice on possible compensation claims.