Residents in a south Oxfordshire village have been angered by Thames Water's failure to plug a leak.

As villagers in West Hagbourne struggle to keep their plants thriving and their lawns green they can only watch as gallons of water drain away.

The leak, in York Road, was left to gush for more than a week. Residents claimed about a gallon a minute was ebbing away, and water had collected in deep pools along a 50m stretch of the street.

Despite several calls from residents, Thames Water, which was heavily criticised by the House of Lords last week for the amount of water lost through leaks, has so far only assessed the situation.

York Road resident Jason Hornblow said: "We reckon they're wasting a gallon a minute. The water is pumping out that's an awful lot of water all week.

"We couldn't save that much water in the village all summer by turning taps off."

He said he was particularly angry because of the looming threat of a drought order.

He said: "In my job I fix pressure washers and steam cleaners. If a drought order comes in, I could be out of a job, so it's very disheartening to see water wasted like this."

Mr Hornblow's neighbour, Dee Thompsett, added: "We could do with all that water on the garden.

"We cannot use hosepipes now, and it's a shame lots of water is being wasted."

Following a call by the Oxford Mail, Thames Water spokesman Chris Shipway said the leak was due to be fixed imminently.

He added: "When we went out initially we were unable to trace the source of the leak because of parked cars.

"On a second visit we identified the source.

"We're mindful of the need to repair leaks as quickly as possible, particularly in the current climate, and we have this year managed to halve the average time taken to repair leaks."

He said on average it now took the company eight days to repair reported leaks, compared with 20 days in 2005.