Villagers who claim they are living in Third World conditions must each pay up to £7,600 to be connected to a mains supply.

Residents of Heathfield, near Bletchingdon, must drink bottled water and go to relatives to bath and wash their clothes because a private tank supplying the village struggles to cater for all the houses and businesses.

Thames Water has told villagers they have 90 days to pay £125,000, including VAT, for 2,523 metres of piping, linking them to the mains -- on top of connection charges of £300 each. But if they fail to pay within the time limit, the piping bill will double, to £261,000, including VAT.

The amount will be divided among the 17 properties. Residents and businesses in multi-occupancy buildings will share the separate bills.

Suzanne Beadle, who is faced with a huge water bill

Mother of three Suzanne Beadle, who has lived in the village for five years, said: "We often don't have water for days and when we do we can't do things like wash clothes or have a bath.

"There is a hotel, an equestrian centre and a golf range which all get water from the tank before us. When we do have a couple of inches to fill a bath, we all have to use it. We can't have a shower, and I have to travel to relatives in Wootton, near Woodstock, to get my washing done.

"It's getting everyone down, because we have to live like this day in day out -- it's like a Third World village."

Residents have never paid water rates but said the water supply has always been poor.

They added it had worsened in recent years because of increasing development, including an equestrian centre.

A spokesman for Thames Water said the company was unable to give a full comment until it had investigated the situation further.

He said: "The normal procedure to supply new properties with water is for the developer in question, whether an individual or a company, to approach the water company and request that the necessary pipes are laid.

"In Heathfield the developer connected an equestrian centre housing 300 animals at times, to an existing small supply pipe laid to serve the farm alone.

"This has led to lower water pressure for some of the properties served by this pipe during summer months."