Fed-up villagers are demanding urgent action over an ongoing water leak - and even celebrated its “unhappy second birthday”.

Water has been running down Church Lane in Seasalter, near Whitstable, for two years and despite it repeatedly being reported, repairs have yet to be carried out.

To highlight the waste of water, residents gathered with party hats, a banner and even a cake with candles to mark the “laughable” two-year anniversary of the leak.

Previously, residents were told by South East Water that nesting newts and tree roots were halting works from getting underway.

Now, bosses at the water company claim Kent County Council says repairs cannot take place until after the holiday season due to the impact a necessary closure of Church Lane will have on nearby holiday spot Rowan Tree Park.

South East Water has not confirmed how much of the road will need to shut or for how long.

John Young, who has lived in nearby Foxdene Road for 12 years, said locals are tired of excuses.

He said: “We are not activists, campaigners, or environmentalists, but we have a contract with the suppliers, and their part of the deal is that they provide us with a service for which we pay quite a lot of money these days.

“On their part, they provide the water and maintain the facilities to provide that water.

“Well, they're not living up to their end of the bargain.

“It’s been reported to them, and here we are, two years later, with excuse after excuse after excuse.

“I mean, it's laughable, and it's almost like they're thinking, ‘Well, you don't really matter.’

“Well, I'm sorry, but we notice these things, and we're not going to sit down and say, ‘Don't worry, you can sleep at night - you can take our money and not do anything for it.’

“We’re talking thousands of gallons over the years, yet we've got hose pipe bans imposed on us yearly.

“They are not giving any details about what they're going to do, when they're going to do it, and who's going to do it, and they are or should be relatively simple questions to answer, yet they're not answering them.

“I don't understand why it's so difficult to ask them to do their bit, which is to keep leaks like that repaired.”

South East Water already performed two repairs in the area last year, but the leak remains a problem for residents.

Seasalter ward councillors Naomi Smith (Lab) and Charlotte Cornell (Lab) say the inaction has made Church Lane an accident waiting to happen.

In a statement, the Canterbury City Council members added: “We held an UNhappy birthday party alongside residents for the long-running Church Lane leak in Seasalter, and they are fed up with South East Water – there’s never been any successful repair.

“This has been dribbling, pouring, and spurting away since at least 2022, wasting thousands of gallons of water while piling pressure on already creaking sewage systems and damaging road surfaces.

“This road is lethal in winter when the water freezes and is an accident waiting to happen.

“This is just one of the leaks across Whitstable that have been ongoing for over six months. The inaction and excuses of the water companies must stop.

“First, South East Water couldn’t find the leak. Then there were too many roots, then nearby nesting newts, then they couldn’t locate the landowner, and now – apparently – they can’t do anything because Kent County Council doesn’t want to shut the road during the summer as it leads to a holiday park. Excuse, after excuse, after excuse.

“They must do a lot better."

A spokesperson for South East Water said: “We understand that seeing water lost to leaks can be frustrating. Fixing leaks and saving water is one of our top priorities.

“Two previous leaks in July and November 2023 have been repaired.

“We always work to repair leaks as quickly as possible; however, Church Lane will need to be closed before this latest repair can be undertaken.

“Due to the impact this will have on a local holiday park, the local highways authority has stipulated it will need to be undertaken after the holiday season on September 9.”

A KCC spokesperson said: “We were contacted by South East Water on June 4 about an ongoing leak in Church Lane, Seasalter.

“They advised us they could not repair the leak until July as newts were breeding at that location.

“We advised that future access would be dependent on them having discussions with holiday parks in the area, as width restrictions along the alternative route would cause issues if large caravans or delivery vehicles needed access.

“We have not heard anything about this closure since June 7, but we look forward to hearing from South East Water once they have completed the necessary checks.”