Suffolk households suffered a second day of water troubles yesterday after two mains burst just a few metres apart.

Thousands of homes across the south of the county had been affected by the first burst main, which was reported in Church Hill Road, Holbrook, at around 3pm on Tuesday.

Anglian Water engineers worked through the night to repair the burst main and successfully restored supplies to affected households, which included Ipswich, Shotley, Copdock, Capel St Mary and East Bergholt.

However, the teams also identified a second burst main in Five Acres when carrying out the repairs.

The company said the damage to the pipe may have been caused by pressure changes in the network following the original burst.

“Although no customers are off water, some may have lower water pressure than normal and we’re sorry for this,” a spokesman added.

“Our priority is to make the repairs as quickly as possible and get things back to normal.

“Although the burst pipes will be repaired today, repairs to the road surface are expected to take around a week to complete.”

Pavel Kricka, who lives in the village and took pictures of the first burst main, said it looked like a sinkhole had opened up in the road.

“There’s a lot of water going out by the looks of it,” he added.

Mr Kricka said the road closure would cause problems for people travelling to The Royal Hospital School.

Oliver Paul, from Suffolk Food Hall, based in Wherstead, said staff were told they had to move their cows to a fresh pasture to access drinking water.

During the repairs, customers in the Shotley area were also warned that they may notice their water supplies was slightly cloudy or discoloured.

“This is harmless and caused by a combination of millions of tiny air bubbles and a disturbance of iron sediments in the pipe following the burst,” the Anglian Water spokesman added.

“Our teams are carrying out pipe flushing in the local area to resolve the problem. In the meantime, if you leave the water to clear in a glass or run your tap for a bit it will soon disappear.

“We’d like to thank local residents and road users for their patience while we complete these vital repairs.”