VILLAGERS in Westwood near Bradford on Avon woke up this morning to a water shortage.

A burst water mains left more than 700 properties without water from early this morning.

One man, who declined to be named, said: “I turned on the cold water tap to fill the kettle and the water came out with just a trickle.

“It was the same with the hot water tap. There was not enough water to have a wash, or a shower.”

As the water pressure fell and taps ran dry, some residents called the Wessex Water emergency helpline at 5.50am to report the issue.

Company workmen in Upper Westwood said they were trying to fix an eight-inch water mains which had burst.

They were attempting to re-route water into a smaller four-inch pipe to continue supplying local homes.

Wessex Water left a recorded message saying “we are working on it.”

People living in Boswell Road, Bobbins Lane and Tynings Way all reported they were affected.

But residents in The Pastures appeared to be unaffected by the loss of water supply to the rest of the village.

Some residents drove down to the local Sainsbury’s supermarket when it opened at 10am to stock up on bottles of still water.

The local village pub, The New Inn, took to local social media to offer residents water from its own supplies, which were unaffected.

By lunchtime, a Water2U tanker had arrived from Chard in Somerset to pump 20,000 litres of water into the system, with another one on its way during the afternoon.

Driver Martin Lloyd, 58, from Stoke-sub-Hamdon near Yeovil, said: “We are dealing with it as best we can but it’s no good us pumping water direct to the leak.

“I am pumping water into the hydrant but we do have a tap on the back of the tanker if people do wish to come and collect.

“I’ve got 20,000 litres of water on board and there’s another tanker on its way now.”