Water thieves plunge village into drought

A village is being left without running water because thieves are stealing thousands of gallons from the mains supply. Residents in Ingham, Suffolk, have been left baffled in recent weeks as their taps run dry for hours at a time despite there being no shortage of water in the area. The vanishing supply has disrupted businesses and left the village’s 400 inhabitants unable to wash or water their gardens. The situation is often so dire that guests staying at the local pub cannot take a shower and are instead given bottles of drinking water to wash with.

However, locals were left incredulous yesterday when their supplier, Anglian Water, claimed “illegal” tapping from its network was the cause of the problem. The company said it had launched an investigation to catch the culprits and stop the drought, which has caused damage to people’s boilers. Ricky Calder, landlord of the Cadogan Arms pub in Ingham, said: "It's been terrible, we have been forced to give refunds to guests who have complained because there's not enough water for a shower. We have to put bottles of water in the rooms so they can have a wash and clean their teeth."



Jasie Hill, a shopkeeper and post mistress in the village, said: "I had a shower and there was a large amount of rust and silt at the bottom of the bath when I stepped out. The supply is so erratic that it broke the safety switch that stops the shower water getting too hot." Villager Emma Sears added: "It has been really bad. At times we get no water at all and other times there is a just a rust-coloured dribble. It's causing terrible problems and we have to collect water in saucepans when we do have a proper supply.”

The problem began six weeks ago. It causes a sudden drop in water pressure for up to an hour at a time, allowing only a trickle of brown-coloured water from taps in the village’s 150 properties. A spokesman for Anglian Water said: "We have been investigating the source of the problem and we believe that a large amount of water is being taken directly – and illegally – from our supply network. This could be from a fire hydrant and we will take appropriate action to ensure our customers' supply is not interrupted."