Residents without water in Warninglid, Bolney and Haywards Heath

About 300 properties are said to be affected as temperatures hit a sweltering 30 degrees Celsius.

Specialist water tankers have been set up in the area, along with bottled water stations.

South East Water apologised to residents and said it was ‘working hard to restore supplies’.

Steve Andrews, head of central operations, said: “We are really sorry to customers in the Bolney, Warninglid, Cuckfield and Haywards Heath areas who have experienced water supply issues as a result of the heatwave.

“I want to reassure everyone that our dedicated teams are working round the clock to treat and pump record-breaking amounts of water into our network. We’re also using specialist water tankers to bring extra treated water into the area to help restore full supplies.

“The high demand for water – 150 million litres more than normal – seen across South East Water’s supply region meant pumping water to these areas became more difficult.

“We set up three bottled water stations in the area and proactively visited all customers on its Priority Services Register to deliver bottles to those vulnerable customers that would not be able to collect themselves.

“These are based at Seaforth Hall, The St, Warninglid, Haywards Heath RH17 5TR; Haywards Heath Rugby Football Club; Whitemans Green, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath RH17 5HX; The Rawson Hall, The St, Bolney, Haywards Heath RH17 5PF.”

Neil Davies, of Cuckfield Lane, Warninglid, said villagers have had no water since Friday (August 7).

He added: “It is a ridiculous situation. Everyone in the village is calling up South East Water and is being given a different story.

“The water board is offering no timeline as to when the service might be restored.

“It is the second time in three years we have had this.”

It comes after South East Water issued a warning to customers on Saturday that they could be without tap water unless its usage is cut this weekend.

It said it had seen a record-breaking demand for water due to the soaring temperatures which ‘outstripped the amount’ which could be pumped through the network.

It added that people’s staycations were ‘putting a strain’ on the country’s water network.

As a result, the water firm urged people to put away their hose pipes, garden sprinklers and garden water toys to help make sure everyone has the water they need to drink, cook, wash and clean this weekend.

A spokesman added: “I was shocked to be told that the average paddling pool now needs a whopping 530 litres of water to fill them – more than three times the total daily amount of water usually used by one person. This is adding to the high demand for water seen during this hot summer weather.”