A FAULTY pump left 1,700 Worcester households without water over the weekend.

Severn Trent Water received 100 complaints from people living in the Warndon Villages area of the city after their water supply was lost.

Frank Pardoe said his water dried up four times in three days.

He said he could not believe it when Severn Trent said the bad weather had caused a booster pump to fail. Mr Pardoe, of Wilberforce Place, Warndon Villages, said: “It always seems to be when we need it most – bath time or lunch time. We live in Worcester, not West Africa.

“We have grandchildren and it was made very difficult looking after them as when they wanted a bath there was no water. Also, when we came to wash up after Sunday lunch, there was no water there too. We have also had to go to the outdoor water butt to fill the toilet so we could flush it. We live quite high up in Worcester and from what we can work out, the water needs a booster to pump it up hill, and this kept on breaking.

“It is annoying when this is a service that we pay for.”

A spokesman for Severn Trent Water said: “A fault on a booster pump meant that some of our customers in the area may have lost their water supply intermittently over the weekend. In addition, we had a burst water main in the area which may have contributed to the loss of supplies.

“We would like to apologise to our customers for any inconvenience caused and reassure them that the burst water main and the booster pump are now repaired.”

A spokesman for nearby Worcestershire Royal Hospital said it was not affected by the problem.