Engineers still battling to fix burst pipe which left Clanfield left without water on the hottest day of the year so far

The leak began this morning but is ‘taking longer than usual’ to fix, a spokesman from Portsmouth Water said.

This incident has dismayed Butser Ancient Farm, which was forced to cancel all it’s weekend festivities – which included demonstrations medieval reenactors.

Dozens of visitors were turned away from the farm after it lost all its water supply this morning.

In a message on the attraction’s Facebook page, a spokesman said: ‘Due to a burst water main in Clanfield we have absolutely no water on site.

‘Unfortunately as a result we are having to close the site due to health and safety as we need water on site for our toileting and hand washing facilities.

‘We are so disappointed as it was set to be a great day and will be in touch with everyone who has booked tickets in due course. We’re very sorry for the inconvenience.’

It’s understood the lack of water supply has also impacted the Queen Elizabeth Country Park, with toilets left without running water.

Teams from Portsmouth Water said this morning they had identified the cause of the leak.

But a spokesman from the firm said: ‘Supplies are still being restored. It is taking longer than usual to restore all supplies due to significant demand on the network.

‘Supplies will be restored as quickly as possible. We do have a crew on site to repair the main also.’

Portsmouth Water added it would continue to update its website on the progress being made to fix the leak.

The news comes as the area braces itself to bask in the hottest temperatures of the year so far, with sweltering highs of 28 degrees forecast for the area.

Thousands of people flocked to beaches across the area to bask in the mini heatwave.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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