Huge water outage affects thousands of Britons across seven boroughs

Residents across seven boroughs are affected, including Kingston upon Thames, Merton, Richmond upon Thames, Sutton and Wandsworth in London, as well as Elmbridge and Spelthorne in Surrey.

The utility company initially estimated that as many as 15,000 homes were hit by the disruption this morning, but engineers have since reduced that figure significantly.

Thames Water said: "We believe up to 15,000 properties were affected this morning and that has now been reduced to 6,000."

A specialist team has been deployed to the site and is working to halt water flooding from the damaged pipe.

Thames Water has also redirected supply around the affected zone.

Customers in Surbiton are expected to have their taps running again soon.

A huge water outage across London has affected thousands of Britons

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However, they will function at reduced pressure until the repair is complete.

The company said: "Our specialist team is now on site and working to stop the water flooding from the broken pipe."

Thames Water issued an apology to those still without supply.

The firm added: "We again would like to say sorry to our customers and reassure those who are still affected that we are working to restore their water supply as quickly as possible."

Thames Water has also redirected supply around the affected zone

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The company warned that the repair is expected to take a long time.

Thames Water said: "Unfortunately, owing to the location of the burst, it's likely to take some time to fix."

Bottled water will be provided to vulnerable customers who are registered as water-dependent on the company's Priority Services Register.

The postcodes potentially affected by the disruption are: CR4, KT1, KT2, KT3, KT5, KT6, KT7, KT8, KT10, KT12, SM4, SW16, SW17, SW18, SW19, SW20, TW10 and TW16