Hundreds of homes in Old Town and Wroughton ran dry because of a burst water main.

The fault was reported at 7am on Saturday. The problem was a 12inch hole in a drain in Croft Hill field which resulted in low water pressure in the system. The fault was repaired by 9am.

Thames Water spokes-man Cathy Little said: "We profusely apologise to all our customers.

"It came at the worst time, on a Saturday morning when people were looking forward to their morning cup of tea.

"Burst mains do occur from time to time and they are almost impossible to predict because they can be caused by any number of reasons, from soil shifting to a fault in the pipes."

"We treated this as an emergency and made sure that the problem was resolved as soon as possible."