A pensioner was left in a "state of panic" after her water was cut off for hours.

Elsie Vaughn was left without running water after a main burst in Hedge End last week.

The 88-year-old, who is unable to leave the house without help, was forced to rely on the kindness of her neighbours who brought her bottled water, while she waited on a delivery from Southern Water that never arrived.

She lives at one of 110 properties which were affected by the outage on July 11, caused by a faulty device.

Shamblehurst Primary, Wildern School and the leisure centre on its site were all forced to close because of the problem.

It was not until 2pm that her taps came back on.

Elsie, who lives in Lower Northam Road, said she was left "not knowing what to do" when her taps ran dry and she had no correspondence from Southern Water.

Mrs Vaughn, who broke her back falling down the stairs three years ago, said: “I went to fill up my cat’s water bowl and was shocked to find I had no water – I went into a panic.

“I thought to myself – I haven’t got insurance on the water pipes have they all rotted away?

“I’m an old lady and I live by myself. I was in quite a panic for a while not knowing what to do.”

It was only when Mrs Vaughn had a knock at the door from her neighbour that she realised a water main had burst on Wildern Lane.

READ MORE: New Milton residents call for bins after animal attacks

She added: “My neighbour gave me two bottles of water and I thanked her but I was left completely in the dark.

“I called Southern Water and was told water would be delivered to my home – for some reason it never came and I was left feeling a little angry.

“It was only when I read the Echo the next day that I saw Southern Water say they were updating residents on social media.

“I have never been on social media, and I wouldn’t know where to start. It feels like those who are not on social media are the forgotten lot.

“My electric company have a set list of people to call in the case of a power cut. They phone me within 10 minutes.”

Mrs Vaughn is calling for Southern Water to devise a strategy to deal with pensioners and those without internet access.

In response a spokesperson for Southern Water said: "We are looking into why Mrs Vaughan did not have bottled water delivered to her home."