ENGINEERS were last night working to fix a broken pipe that leaked thousands of litres of water onto a Hampshire street.

Water poured out of holes in the kerb, pavement and road all weekend after a water main underneath the corner of Above Bar Street and Civic Centre Road in Southampton burst in freezing weather. It came as the Daily Echo revealed Southern Water is this week to begin installing water meters in 140,000 homes across Hampshire – because it says the region is one of the driest in the country and more water needs to be saved.

Bosses hope the £83m scheme will dramatically change attitudes to water use, easing the strain on resources in what has been classed as an “Area of Serious Water Stress”.

The leak was first reported on Saturday, but Southern Water was hoping to fix it in the early hours of this morning, having delayed repair work to avoid disruption on the busy street, leaving gallons of water gushing down drains for two days.

A spokeswoman for the firm said a team was due to resume work at midnight.

She said: “Pipes burst for a variety of reasons, although a likely cause is the freezing weather we have recently experienced.”