Jaguar Land Rover and Cadbury stop production after Storm Emma water supply failure says Severn Trent
Car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover and chocolate giant Cadbury were today forced to stop production at their separate Midlands plants because of damage to the water supply from Storm Emma.
Severn Trent said it has been forced to bring in “extra teams and tankers” and increasing production at treatment works as it struggles to keep up the water supply to schools, hospitals and homes.
The recent cold snap and heavy snow caused chaos across the UK, but the subsequent thaw has added different problems in the form of burst water supplies.
The Cadbury factory was forced to stop production, but gained a “limited water supply” on Monday evening. A spokesperson for Mondelez International, which owns Cadbury, said: “Our supply of chocolate is not immediately impacted as some production is continuing and we currently have sufficient stock available to manage through this, hopefully, short disruption.”
The thaw has left homes around the capital without any water supply, with some not expected to have any supply until Tuesday night. Thames Water was among the suppliers forced to hand out bottled water to London customers.
We’ve opened a water station – it’s located in #Sydenham onHigh Level Drive, #SE26 6XT. Please do come and get some bottled water if you are experiencing low pressure / no water. https://t.co/JSPfB85XkR pic.twitter.com/34ahoYitYO— Thames Water (@thameswater) March 5, 2018
“Due to the recent thaw we’ve experienced, our teams are dealing with a huge number of burst pipes across our region which is putting pressure on our network,” Severn Trent said in a statement.
“We’ve worked closely with Jaguar Land Rover to manage their water usage, which helps us prioritise household supplies.”