Northern Ireland Water explains reason for loss of water supply across Belfast today

The problem is known to have closed restaurants such as Avoca on Arthur Street for a time as well as other catering businesses in the vicinity of City Hall.

A spokeswoman for NI Water told the News Letter that the issue with water supply had impacted the Greater Belfast Area on Thursday morning but was resolved by early afternoon.

Most customers will be back on supply now or shortly, as the system is currently recharging, she added.

In a statement, NI Water said: "The outage occurred during routine maintenance of the system, therefore the issue was quickly identified.

"Customers should have their water supply restored as the system recharges. The expectation is that all customers should be fully back on supply by this afternoon [Thursday]."

Customers who have been affected can check progress using the real time search facility at www.niwater.com for updates.

The public can also sign up for a text alert system on the same website.

“We would like to thank the public for their patience while we resolved this issue," she added.