SWINDON is in the middle of a hosepipe ban but water has been gushing from yet another burst water main.

Mill Lane, which joins Old Town with Wroughton, was given a soaking yesterday after a water main close to the Old Town end of the road burst.

The road had to be closed for hours and wasn't expected to reopen until the morning.

Rush-hour traffic being diverted away from the area last night queued as motorists realised they couldn't get through and had to do U-turns in driveways.

Angry Thames Water customers are now asking when the water company will stop wasting valuable supplies.

Water began spilling from the underground main at about 10.30am yesterday.

It bubbled under the road until it burst through the surface, flooding the road.

After calls from residents, Thames Water engineers were called out to begin re-routing the water supply and a clean-up operation got under way to pump the water away.

The road was shut by 11am and was not expected to re-open until this morning.

Stuart McGregor, 38, was out walking his dog after work.

The IT technician said: "I would normally walk along Mill Lane because it's relatively quiet but obviously I can't tonight. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that there is yet another leak from a Thames Water pipe when they are telling us that we can't even water our gardens with a hose.

"They need to start sorting out the old pipes and replace them with new ones that are not going to burst.

"That flood in Rodbourne was terrible last week and with another huge one like this, it's got to make them think."

A 44-year-old housewife, of Field Rise, who did not want to be named, was also angry at the waste of water. "I didn't have water early on but I do now," she said.

Thames Water spokeswoman, Hilary Bennett, said last night: "The road is closed but we are hoping it will re-open later or tomorrow but we will have to consult with the council and police when we can open the road again."

She added: "The main was shut off and the water stopped but we re-routed it to another network.

"Due to the severity of the problem we cannot say how long it is going to take to fix.

"When there is a burst main of this nature and this amount of flooding there could be structural damage to the road."

The firm will now carry out an investigation to find the cause of the burst.

As we reported last Thursday, Rodbourne Road, close to the Cheney Manor Industrial Estate, was turned into a river after workmen there hit a water pipe.