Water supplies were finally restored to homes nearly 12 hours after damage to main unleashed a torrent that flooded homes and gardens.

Residents woke up to no water on Sunday after the pipe in on Churchill Avenue, behind Downs Road in Folkestone burst. After a day of disruption followed by a difficult repair job, water returned at around 8pm.

A repair team for Affinity Water, who operate the supply, had been at the scene all day trying to rectify the issue.

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It predominantly affected the CT19 postcode and residents sent in shocking photos of the damage to KentOnline.

The Affinity Water website states: "We have successfully repaired the burst water main and anticipate full restoration of your water supply. Some customers at higher elevation may experience lower than normal water pressure until the water pipe is fully charged up. we anticipate this to take up to an hour.

"Should you experience any discoloured or aerated water which is not uncommon following a mains interruption, we recommend that you leave a mains fed tap running for approximately 5-10 minutes."

The company warned of some discolouration but said it was not harmful.

It added: "Where it has been necessary to excavate the area we will continue to work with the local Highways Authority to return the road surface area to normal and ensure that the road or footway is safe for all vehicle and pedestrian traffic. This may mean that we have to maintain the site and any necessary traffic management until this is the case."

Workers had faced difficulties due to cables from other utilities being near the water main.

In an earlier statement the company said: "This means further dig work will need to be carried out by hand and naturally this takes longer than with a digger.

"Our incident support manager is on site liaising with customers affected by flooding, and our team are working hard to contact our most vulnerable customers directly."

The company said on their website earlier in the day that technicians from the water company were on site and had located a burst on a large 12" water main located on Churchill Avenue, behind Downs Road.

They reported that they had shut the water main off "to prevent further flooding to customers properties".

It comes as supplies were also affected on Sheppey after another main burst.

The company received a number of calls this morning about the problems in Folkestone.

Residents have reported on social media that water is spilling in to their houses and gardens.

Affinity Water asked that houses in the area do not to use any electrical appliances that require a water supply, for example washing machines or dishwashers, and also to conserve water from storage tanks while the supply is interrupted.

If you are in the area but do still have a supply, Affinity Water also advised that residents store some water for drinking in case the supply has to be switched off to complete repairs.

Police attended the scene this morning to assist with traffic cone management.

The company noted that an update on the situation will be issued later today and residents have reported water officials handing out bottles of water in the affected area.

Have you been affected this morning? Email your thoughts and pictures to mmilehamchappell@thekmgroup.co.uk