A water leak has kept residents awake at night for weeks and has forced one to barricade his front door with a wooden fence panel to prevent splashes.

Now a councillor is calling on Southern Water to get the leak in North Street, Milton Regis, Sittingbourne, repaired.

Tony Winckless, (Lab, Milton Regis), who first reported the leak on September 16, fumed: "This has been going on for three to four weeks and is totally unacceptable. In my opinion, Southern Water are putting profits for their shareholders before investing in their infrastructure. It's a disgrace."

Julie Glass, 75, who lives opposite the leak, said: "It's very difficult to sleep at night. The noise of vehicles constantly driving through the lake outside my house keeps me awake. It was even worse during the really hot weather when I couldn't open any of my windows."

Fellow resident Bill Francis, 70, a retired environmental scientist, said: "We have always had flooding here but it became worse when new drains were installed for the nearby primary school's car park. Problems are now working their way down the road."

North Street is straddled by two underground streams historically linking Seven Acres Lake at Milton Recreation Ground with the former Cornfields Lake near Holy Trinity church in Green Porch Lane as part of the River Bourne system, which is where Sittingbourne gets its name.

Mr Francis said: "We have very old water pipes here, perhaps the oldest in the area. After the very dry summer, I suspect the ground has moved and caused the cast iron pipes to crack and leak. Sittingbourne is built on brick earth and has springs all over it. We're sitting in the middle of a marsh."

Cllr Winckless, 69, who has lived in the area for 37 years, added: "This has not been helped because one of the drains is blocked and hasn't been cleaned. A resident who lives next to the drain has been forced to put a wooden fence panel across his front door to stop the cars splashing water into his house. It's time something was done to sort this out."

There are also outstanding leaks at Clive Road and Norwood Walk West off Hilton Drive at the other end of the town.

In Clive Road, John MacGregor, 72, reported water bubbling up from his garden on August 22 and said it was spreading across the pavement used by youngsters on their way to primary school.

He said: "I've had engineers coming out, looking at it, digging a hole and filling it back in. Heaven knows how they get away with it. It's atrocious. I can't even get out of my own gate, I have to use my neighbour's!"

In Norwood Walk West, Julie Withington said: "My neighbour reported water leaking three weeks ago and warned that it was going into the gardens of other houses. The leak is next to BT underground cables. It won't do them any good if water gets into them."

A Southern Water spokesman said: “We are working hard to ensure leaks are repaired. We hope this work will be finished in the coming days at Clive Road and Norwood Walk West, however, repairs at North Street may take longer as are we liaising with another utilities company.”

He added: “Tackling leaks is a key priority for us. Last year we fixed 22,000 and this year we on track to surpass this figure. We would like to thank residents affected by these leaks for their patience during this time.”