A WEST Malvern family were forced to collect water from a well and nearby spring after their mains supply was cut off for 24 hours.

They say Severn Trent, the company responsible for the supply, failed to deliver on a promise of immediate action or to deliver bottled water.

Nicola and David Lowe, of Harcourt Road, have now complained to Severn Trent over the incident, which they described as a "fiasco".

Mrs Lowe said they first noticed the water had gone off at 3.15pm last Wednesday (June 18) and notified Severn Trent within minutes. They were told the problem had been reported by another resident about an hour earlier.

But it was not until the afternoon of the following day, and at least six phone calls to Severn Trent, that workmen arrived to deal with the leak. The supply was eventually restored at 2.47pm on the Thursday.

"It's a total fiasco of ineptitude," said Mrs Lowe. "A problem that should have been solved within four or five hours eventually took 24 hours."

"Luckily, we have a well, so we were able to flush toilets and a spring nearby where we could collect drinking water. Had these not been available to us it would have been a most unpleasant 24 hours."

Mrs Lowe said that Severn Trent had twice offered to provide bottled water but failed to deliver.

Mr Lowe said what irritated him most was reporting the incident almost immediately and then, some hours later, phoning back to be told the problem had not yet been reported.

"It's that typical call centre attitude," he said. "You can't get through to anyone who matters."

Caroline Hosiey, for Severn Trent, said the problem had been caused by a BT contractor breaching the water main.

"I will ask one of our customer care people to contact the Lowes and see what went wrong," she said.