The work is currently being scheduled as a matter of priority by Yorkshire Water to replace 250 metres of pipework which supplies the two villages.

Back in January people living in the villages were forced to rely on handouts of bottled water from Yorkshire Water after the mains water supply to the villages was interrupted due to a burst pipe. It has now been repaired temporarily.

Tim Smith, chair of Fylingdales Parish Council, said it had been chaos when the supplies of bottled water were distributed with many residents not getting any and it being dropped off in unsuitable spots for people to collect.

The parish council has now asked for a meeting with Yorkshire Water to draw up an action plan so the fiasco does not happen again - it's hoped they can walk around the village and agree on specific sites as drop off points for bottled water in the event of a shortage.

“A lot of people were left without water,” said Coun Smith. “People were going to make sure the elderly and vulnerable got bottled water but there was not enough getting dropped off.

“They were dropping water at the top at the roundabout and outside the fire station at 'Thorpe.

It was not being dropped off in the right places.

“Another issue was day visitors were just picking water and just wandering off with it.

“There is a lot of anger in the village about the way the water company had handled the distribution of the water.

“Some people didn’t get any water at all. It was not a particularly well-run service that we got in the village.”

Steve Parsley, spokesman for Yorkshire Water, said they are hoping to get the repairs done “as soon as possible”.

He said they have agreed to meet with the parish council and will set a date once they know when the repairs to the water main will be carried out.

“Yorkshire Water is more than happy to listen to the concerns of residents,” he said.