Lancaster and Morecambe homes left without water for up to 36 hours as pipes burst due to rising temperatures

United Utilities said the issue had been caused by the sudden rise in temperature which had caused frozen pipes to thaw and leak.

This had led to either low water pressure or no water at all in many parts of the district, including across Lancaster, Morecambe, Heysham, Carnforth, Glasson and Cockerham.

Teams from United Utilities were out across the area on Sunday to find and fix the leaks.

The car park behind Morecambe Town Hall is being used as an emergency station for residents to collect bottled water.

Bottles were also distributed to affected residents on the 'priority services' register.

“We’re doing all we can to get our network back to normal as quickly as possible," said a United Utilities spokesman.

“We apologise for the disruption and thank customers for their patience.”

One 88-year-old Morecambe resident said he had been without water since 9pm on Saturday.

It had still not been fixed by Monday morning.

Ian Harris lives on the fifth floor of an apartment block in Sefton Road, and said he was unable to collect emergency water supplies himself.

The worry had given him sleepless nights, he said.

"I live in a block with 24 apartments," he said. "Most of us have been completely without water since about 9pm on Saturday. I, and others here, am/are considered by United Utilities as being “Priority Vulnerable”.

"On Saturday evening, one of the residents tried to telephone United Utilities but after well over an hour had not received a reply.

"On Sunday morning we received a small supply of bottled water for the “priority” people, but that apparently was just routine.

"I cannot now flush my toilet. I do not have sufficient water to wash. Of the four bottles of water which were delivered for me, I have only one left at this moment. I cannot even boil an egg for breakfast.

"If we are considered to be vulnerable, why has no action of some sort been taken? Even if water is supplied to us, how am I, at 88, expected to move sufficient water to the top floor of the building?"

As of Monday morning, water had only returned to the ground and first floors of Mr Harris's apartment block.

Fortunately, a neighbour was able to collect extra water supplies for Mr Harris from the emergency station.

United Utilities said on Monday that they are working 'round the clock' to fix the issue.

A spokesman said: “We are sorry that some customers in parts of Lancaster and Morecambe have been having disruption to their water supply.

“Our teams are working really hard to carry out repairs on our pipes as quickly as possible, but some customers are experiencing poor pressure or no water.

“Over the weekend we have been delivering bottled water to vulnerable people on our priority services register and this is continuing today.

“There’s lots of advice on our website about what to do if you have a burst pipe in your house and we would encourage people to report any leaks on our mains network at https://www.unitedutilities.com/emergencies/report-a-problem/”