RESIDENTS of a village on the Mendip Hills are furious with water supplier Bristol Water after being left without water for up to 24 hours on six separate occasions this year.
The repeated outages in Holcombe have caused widespread disruption, with households and local businesses left struggling.
MP Anna Sabine met with local councillor for the Mendip Hills Sam Phripp, and is demanding Bristol Water stops relying on temporary repairs and replaces the failing water main that serves the village.
The problem centres on a weak clay main to the west of the village, with Bristol Water repeatedly returning since December 2025 to carry out patch repairs.
Despite these temporary fixes, the failures have continued, with thousands of litres of water reportedly escaping into surrounding fields.
One resident living with a terminal illness was promised emergency bottled water by Bristol Water during an outage, but says it never arrived.
Local businesses too have felt the impact with the landlord of five-star hotel The Holcombe forced to visit the local supermarket to buy bottled water so guests could wash themselves.
Staff were even left to find makeshift solutions to keep the business operating, including using buckets of water to keep guest toilet systems flushing.
The hotel subsequently had to issue refunds, despite receiving only the same £100 compensation offered to affected domestic households.
Residents are now questioning how many more repairs will be attempted before Bristol Water accepts that the main needs replacing and have expressed anger at Bristol Water's attitude and the way their concerns have been handled.
They have described being dismissed when reporting problems, struggling to get meaningful answers and being left without the emergency support they were told would be provided.
The village is now facing a situation where residents are stockpiling bottled water in their homes because they simply do not know when their supply might disappear again.
Anna Sabine MP has been working alongside residents and local councillor Sam Phripp to challenge Bristol Water over the repeated failures.
She said: “People in Holcombe have been incredibly patient, but patience is wearing thin.
“They have raised the same concerns time and again yet still do not have confidence that Bristol Water is taking the problem seriously.
“A water company has a basic responsibility to provide a reliable supply and to look after customers when things go wrong. That includes making sure vulnerable people get the support they need.
“I want Bristol Water to recognise the very real impact this is having on people's lives and livelihoods - residents should not have to become experts in managing water outages or spend their time chasing a company for answers.
“I will continue to press for a proper resolution, and I expect Bristol Water to set out exactly how and when it intends to put this right.”
The MP is continuing to seek a clear timetable from Bristol Water for replacing the failing main and assurances that vulnerable residents will receive appropriate support during any further disruption.