Villagers had a shock when they turned their taps on and instead of water, dark orange sludge poured out.

About 75 properties lost their supply or had low water pressure when a mains water pipe burst in Lower Higham Road, Chalk, Southern Water said.

Homeowner Dave Brown said: “It was off at 11:30pm and came back on at about 7am but it had a thick brown sludge in it.

“No warning was given and it was off for over seven hours.

“The muck has got into the electric shower and hot water system and has taken about an hour to flush though, but is still not completely clear.

“I certainly won’t be drinking it.”

His posting on our Facebook page quickly prompted fellow disgruntled customers to reply.

“I certainly won’t be drinking it” - homeowner Dave Brown

Courtney Miles wrote: “My two-year-old daughter woke with a horrid cough at 3am and I had no means of getting her a drink.

“My cold water is fine now but my hot water is a little dirty.

“I understand they may think night time is the best time to do whatever they were doing but we should have been told something was going on.”

A spokesman for Southern Water apologised for any inconvenience, saying: “We’ve had calls from seven customers to report discoloured water coming from their taps.

“This discolouration is due to harmless iron oxide deposits which collect on the inside of water mains and have been stirred up during a disruption.

“This can be removed by running a mains-fed cold tap, which is usually located in the kitchen, until the water clears.”