Burst water pipe halts Jaguar and Land Rover production

Jaguar  Land Rover says it cannot say when production at its Solihull and Castle Bromwich plants near Birmingham will resume after it was forced to stop all operations on Tuesday morning. The issues were caused by a water shortage resulting from damage to water pipes in the recent cold weather.

The JLR factory in Solihull employs 10,000 people building the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, and Jaguar F-Pace, while the Castle Bromwich site has 3,000 workers building the Jaguar XE, but a large proportion of staff have been told not to attend work until further notice.

JLR are by no means the only victims of water supply problems with homes and businesses across the West Midlands and beyond suffering as a result of the cold weather followed by a rapid thaw. The Cadbury's chocolate factory in Bournville has also borne the brunt and is limiting its activities as a result of water shortages. 

A spokesperson for the local water company Severn Trent said: "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.

"As well as bringing in extra teams and tankers, and ramping up production at our treatment works so we can continue to keep schools, hospitals, homes and vulnerable customers on supply, we've worked closely with JLR to manage their water usage, which helps us prioritise household supplies.”

Jaguar Land Rover said it is "closely monitoring" the situation.  

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