FED-UP Catshill businesses were left high and dry when water supplies were severed for almost 11 hours, just one week after they endured a six-hour power cut.

The latest drought of services came on Sunday when a burst water main affected two thousand homes and businesses in and around the village.

Water was restored around 9pm but some residents had been without a drop since 10am.

This was just the latest incident in a line of cuts faced by residents and traders around Catshill who have been left in the dark over electricity supplies for the past few months.

Fred Perry, from the Village Bakery, Golden Cross Lane, said the water cut had delayed the night shift by an hour.

He said: "We've had twenty-one power cuts and now the water seems it's not reliable. We want services which work. Apart from costing us money we are trying to run a business. We have people who rely on our service and if we cannot deliver it our customers will go elsewhere."

Manager of the Crown pub, in Stourbridge Road, Trudy Beasley, said they had to stop serving food at 4pm so lost an evening's trade and customers had to re-use their glasses because they could not wash up.

Problems were also caused at Catshill Residential Home, in Stourbridge Road. Staff had to use bottled water to make residents' drinks, toilets could not be flushed and no-one could have a bath.

Steward at Catshill Working Men's Club, in Meadow Road, Sam Bissell, said he would have had to call time early if the water supply had not come on.

He said: "We open at 7pm so were lucky that the water was back on about 8pm, otherwise with no glasses or flushable toilets we would have to close early."

A spokeswoman from Severn Trent Water said the problem had been caused by a burst water main in Stourbridge Road and workers had been at the site all Sunday.

She added: "Unfortunately some residents would have lost their supply completely while others had low water pressure."

She added: "We apologise to those affected but we did try and do everything possible to restore supplies as soon as possible."