A mother of two has slammed Thames Water after being left without water for nine weeks.

An external leak has meant Jodie Munkley has been buying five litres of water a day just to get her family by, including a two-year-old, eight-year-old and family member with a heart condition.

"How they expect us to live is just unbelievable," she said. 

Thames Water, who is the local water supplier, was first notified about the problem on October 24, three days after the family's water flow turned to a 'dribble'.

An engineer attended on November 22 and was unable to locate the problem.

Speaking in the run-up to Christmas, Jodie said: "It's Christmas, I have two young children, my brother has a heart condition and where do they expect us to go?

"I've had to rearrange my whole Christmas. I can't have guests at my house. I can't even flush my toilet. How can I have my nan and grandad over?"

Jodie's two-year-old daughter became poorly including a Strep A infection during the prolonged water issue, causing further distress to the family who were unable to wash the child in the property.

Luckily, family members located five minutes away were able to support Jodie throughout the nine-week ordeal, helping the family with shower and washing facilities when needed.

"It's disgusting. I feel like we are being left to the back burner," Jodie explained.

The mother described how the ordeal had been made worse as it continued into the festive period, throwing any Christmas plans into chaos.

Six engineer visits on from November 22 and contact from The Obsever the leak was finally located on December 15, however a fix still not in sight.

Due to the household having electric heating, Thames Water reportedly said the household was 'not a priority'.

Following contact from The Observer, Thames Water attended the property on December 21 to further investigate the issue.

In this time Thames Water engineers reportedly made light of the family's drawn-out situation,  commenting 'I guess I won't be asking you for a cup of tea then'.

Thames Water reportedly dug a hole outside the property and identified the leak, however left the scene and problem unresolved stating it was now the landlord's responsibility.

Jodie's landlord, who she privately rents from, speedily hired a plumber who had Jodie's water running within 3 hours - having gained access after the Thames Water works.

The plumber reportedly said he could 'see the problem straight away' and expressed shock at the time it took for the issue to be identified and resolved by Thames Water.

"My Christmas plans are back on. I've got the family coming back to me and that is so exciting. I am so happy."

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We’re sorry for the ongoing low-pressure issues experienced and for the inconvenience this has caused, especially in the run-up to Christmas.

"After our engineers attended a low-pressure appointment on November 22, we completed three repairs on outside pipes and valves to help rectify the problem.

"Despite this, it was reported the issues with low pressure were still ongoing and on December 15 we proved there was a customer-side leak at the property.

"We attended the property yesterday (December 21) and our engineers found the leak was past the point of entry to the building.

"When a leak is past this point it is the responsibility of the customer to fix. 

"We’re due to return to the property today to reinstate the hole that was dug.

"We’re speaking to the team who attended yesterday regarding their comments to the customer and apologise that this occurred.  

"We’re sorry for the length of time this has taken to be resolved and for the inconvenience this has caused."