Swiss Cottage Library closed as burst water pipe leads to ‘considerable’ flooding

Swiss Cottage Library has been forced to close after a burst pipe saw a “considerable volume” of water flood into the building’s basement.

Contractors and council workers were working flat out all of yesterday and this morning to pump out the water and say it will likely take all weekend to fix.

Power and heating have had to be cut with the library reopening at the earliest on Monday.

A statement from the council said: “Colleagues across the council have been working throughout the day with contractors to understand the situation and to plan to reopen the library as quickly as possible.

“The flooding was caused by a burst water main outside of the library.

“The volume of water which entered the basement of the library was considerable and whilst no library stock was affected, the basement needs to be pumped out, dried and all electrical systems will need to be checked before it will be safe to restore power and heating to the building.

“It will take several days to complete this process and assess what work is needed to make the building safe for use.”