Residents in parts of a rural village were left without water, after a water main burst - just metres from a huge water spout last year.

Chalky water poured from cracks which appeared in Charing High Street on Monday night, with police closing the road until workmen arrived.

Last summer we reported how a water fountain to ‘rival the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas’ sprung from a burst main in the same road.

Nearby resident Dennis Gudge, 64, went to check out what was happening at around 10.45pm.

He said: “It wasn't exactly a spout, but it did split the road in four or five places.

“It was quite fierce running down the High street, but it was nothing like last year. But the road was completely white from all the chalk, and they did have to close it.”

Over 100 shocked residents of the village crowded the High Street throughout the late evening last August after another rupture sent a huge water spout, thought to be around 50ft high, into the air."

Ann Seach, distribution manager for South East Water, said: “We have no reason to believe this burst is related in any way to the burst that occurred last year.

“We were made aware of a burst on a water main on Charing High Street late on Monday night.

“The police were called to site to shut the road until a more formal road closure could be put into place.

“The damaged section of pipe was isolated overnight while our crews worked hard on the repair, enabling water to flow back through the new pipe to customers’ taps by approximately 6.30am on Tuesday morning.”