A water company has apologised for delays in fixing a water leak which has seen gallons of water running unchecked along a pretty village loke for weeks.

Essex and Suffolk Water says it is poised to repair the break in Winterton which has seen narrow lanes turned in to running streams.

On Sunday visitors staying in a holiday cottage in The Loke had resorted to making their own DIY sandbags using black sacks, to keep the rising waters away from the property so they could let their dogs into the garden without treading muddy paws back in the house.

The father and son, both called Alan Cumbers, from Thetford, said it had been getting worse since they arrived on Friday and that it seemed incongruous to see so much water after a record-breaking heatwave and long dry spell.

Meanwhile, resident Richard Hemingway, 71, said it had been going on for weeks.

Water had been constantly cascading from the approach to Coastguard Cottages, across King Street where a pond was forming, and down along The Loke where it emptied into a drain at the end.

As well as being a nuisance, and a sludgy mess, it was also a waste just as some MPs were calling for a national hose pipe ban, he said.

A spokesperson for Essex & Suffolk Water said: “We are aware of a leak on King Street, which is on a private water pipe owned by Great Yarmouth Council and feeds multiple properties.

"Although this pipe is not our responsibility to repair, we are working with the council to carry out the work as a contractor and aim to have this done as soon as possible.

“We always try to repair leaks as quickly as we can when they’re reported to us, but unfortunately there has been a delay on this occasion and we’re very sorry about this.

It is the second time the village has suffered a leak in the same spot.

Last August residents shared their anger after water was pumping out from the same spot for at least seven weeks before anyone came to fix it amid uncertainly over who was responsible.

This time the water company says it is poised to fix it as a contractor and is waiting for the borough council to accept its quote for doing the work.