A water shortage in the Burton area has prompted advice to only use what is "essential".

South Staffordshire Water, which supplies water to East Staffordshire, said it is experiencing very high levels of demand for water as the Beast from the East left many pipes burst and led to leaks.

And Severn Trent water says it has similar problems in South Derbyshire.

South Staffordshire bosses are asking people not to use water for anything that is not essential as they will "make a real difference" in helping to ensure they maintain supplies to as many customers as possible.

Burst water pipes are causing problems across the country

A spokesman said: "If you're experiencing lower pressure than normal or no water at all, we would like to reassure you we are doing all we can.

"We're currently prioritising emergencies and vulnerable customers only. If you urgently need to contact us, please call us on 0800 389 1011. If your call is not urgent, you may experience a long wait whilst we continue to deal with high call volumes – updates can be found on this website and via Twitter @SthStaffsWater

"We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause."

Severn Trent Water, which covers South Derbyshire, has also experienced similar problems with the water supply.

A spokesman said: "The rapid thaw has seen our teams called out to an unprecedented number of burst pipes. To put that into perspective, we've had an increase in burst pipe alarms of nearly 4000 per cent.

"When water freezes within a pipe it expands, putting more pressure on it and causing it to split or the joints to pull apart. When the temperature starts to increase again, the water will start to leak out.

"This has put pressure on our network and has meant that small pockets of our network experienced low pressure or periodic interruptions to supply during Sunday evening. Since then our teams have been working tirelessly throughout the night to fix many of the bursts, and as a result we have managed to restore supplies to everyone who was impacted.

"However, overnight there have been a further series of bursts and as we entered peak demand this morning, some of our customers have experienced poor pressure or intermittent supplies in pockets again as we carry out repairs to these pipes. We have teams that continue to work really hard to deal with these and can reassure customers that we're doing everything we can to restore supplies as soon as possible.

"We would like to offer a huge apology to these customers for any disruption to their Monday mornings. We know just how hard it is to be without water and we hugely appreciate everyone's patience, as our teams work around the clock to fix the bursts and reduce any impact to our customers."

Customers can get all the latest updates via Severn Trent's website and Twitter @stwater

Water shortages have become a problem across the country after extreme weather affected the supply for tens of thousands of homes.

Pipes which have frozen and thawed have burst causing widespread shortages which has even triggered the launched of emergency bottle water collection points in London and elsewhere in the south east of England.

One NHS hospital has even tweeted their supplier and asked for "500 bottles of water for patients".

Water problems have hit at least 12,000 homes in London alone - where at least one school says it cannot open Monday due to the lack of water.

There are also problems being reported across England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

Customers have been urged to "use as little water as possible" and "avoid any water use that isn't essential".

South Staffordshire Water has asked:

  • If you spot a leak, please call us urgently on 0800 243 352
  • If you find a leak on your property, you will need to call a recommended plumber or your landlord. You can find a recommended plumber here www.watersafe.org.uk . If you're struggling to isolate the leak on your property, please call us urgently on 0800 243 352 and where possible we will send an available engineer to help.