AROUND 100 homes in Hampshire were left without water this morning after a number of pipes burst in the area overnight.

Southern Water was providing bottled water to the affected properties, between Ower and Romsey, while workers attempted to fix the problems.

The pipes are understood to have burst because of the prolonged dry weather, which has caused the ground to crack up and move around, putting pressure on the pipes.

Some rainfall last night caused the ground to move again, putting added pressure on the pipes and causing them to burst.

The first incident happened on the dual carriageway near Paulton's Park, Ower yesterday afternoon and the pipe was immediately shut down.

Later in the afternoon another pipe burst two miles from the first on the A3090. Southern Water was still trying to fix the second burst this morning because the large amount of water made it difficult to find exactly where the pipe had burst.

Head of communications at Southern Water Geoff Loader said: "We had about 100 properties between Ower and Romsey that were affected and we are making bottled water available to them.

"It will all be sorted out later on this morning."

Further problems occurred in Hursley where a pipe leading from a reservoir burst at around 3.30am today, affecting homes in Hursley and at the edge of Chandler's Ford and Chilworth.

Mr Loader said: "We managed to shut down the main that had burst and used another one that leads from the reservoir so this morning, hopefully, everyone should not be aware of what's happened.

"They may have caught the tail end of it in Chilworth because that's the highest area, but our guys have worked through the night to put it right."