CONTRACTORS working on the controversial Pedestrian Heart project in Darlington town centre cracked a water main yesterday, leaving businesses without a water supply.

A digger working on the site near the Joseph Pease statue knocked into a concrete casing around the 6in main. The pipe, one of the main pipes supplying Darlington, burst and the water supply to businesses in the area was cut off at about 3.30pm.

Among the shops affected were businesses in the Cornmill Shopping Centre, where the public toilets had to be closed.

The £6.5m pedestrianisation project has been controversial and traders have claimed that the building work has hit their income.

Yesterday, Charlie Pitchford, the owner of O'Briens sandwich bar on the corner of Tubwell Road and Prebend Row, said: "My main business is coffee, and when there is no water, there is nothing you can do.

"Businesses in Darlington are already suffering and today they have suffered even more."

Julie Pilbin, manager of Café Nero above Waterstones book shop, on High Row, said the shop had lost about a hour of trade.

"It's not good. We were able to keep serving coffee for a while, but it isn't the service we want to provide." she said.

Cara Hall, spokeswoman for Northumbrian Water, said the company had managed to re-route the supply to many of the businesses within a short time. She said work to repair the damage was due to take four hours.

Earlier this year, contractors struck a 100-year-old gas main, causing a leak. The pipe was not buried as deeply as had been estimated and as a result the entire pipe had to be re-routed.

The setback has delayed the completion of the project by several months and could cost the council hundreds of thousands of pounds.