The leak in Wannock Road, Polegate, left customers in Eastbourne, Polegate, Stone Cross, Westham and Pevensey with no water or very low pressure for most of the morning.

A number of properties near the 24 inch pipe were flooded when it burst at around 6.30am.

South East water managed to 're-zone' the problem through other parts of the supply network by around 11am to restore water to most homes.

A spokesman said: 'As a result of this re-zoning some customers may experience 'white water – this is perfectly harmless and is the result of air in the water supply.

'We advise customers to run their cold taps until it clears.

'Customers in parts of Pevensey and Sovereign Harbour may still experience some low water pressure but we are continuing to fine tune our network to resolve these issues.

'We are also working on repairing the burst section of main in Wannock Road. 'We apologise for any inconvenience that this burst has caused'