A water main which burst nearly three weeks ago has been dubbed as the “Chislehurst lido” as a man bathed in it after a few too many gin and tonics.

Tyler Smith posed for a photo in the water-filled hole in the ground in Old Hill after becoming increasingly frustrated by the "lack of work" being done to fix the problem.

This main was first reported as having burst on August 4, and it followed another burst main at the other end of the road the week before.

Tyler, who lives round the corner from Old Hill, said the first main looked like “white water rafting”, and the second one “had been left with clear water pouring out of a jacuzzi-sized hole”.

He explained: “The road has been shut for around three weeks and it’s causing me a really annoying diversion to get home from work every day.

“When they were fixing the first burst main at the bottom of the road, this one at the top went, and there had been roadworks here before that.

“The badly leaking hole was left with clear water pouring out of a jacuzzi-sized hole, so after a few too many gin and tonics one night I thought why not get a photo?

News Shopper: photo: We are Telityphoto: We are Telity

“My photo seems to be the only thing that has got Thames Water to do something – but it still isn’t fixed and it’s still leaking.

“They dug it out and left a massive hole filled with water, and that’s basically the same as how it is now.

“They then did come back and put some higher fencing on the site but that’s kind of useless.”

A spokesperson for Thames Water has apologised that this work has taken longer than normal - and says this is because of investigations on how best to shut off the pipe so it doesn't affect water supplies in the area.

They added that the repair is planned for completion today.

However, Chislehurst Councillor Mike Jack has slammed Thames Water over the delays in repairs as leaks “pop up all over Chislehurst”.

He told the News Shopper: “Thames Water are slow to react, they’re always very defensive and there are leaks popping up all over Chislehurst.

“They close the road and then leave it and say they haven’t got the resources.

“We need to be more proactive than reactive – at the moment main roads round Bromley and Chislehurst are being shut down and it’s not good.

“The work only started on this burst main this week which is two weeks after it was first reported.

“I was told repairs will be done tomorrow and the road should be open on Friday but I’m not holding my breath to see if that happens.

“We understand that we have old pipes but we need to be thinking into the future to stop this happening – something needs to be done.

“We’re losing this much water here and meanwhile Thames Water puts in a hosepipe ban.”

Tyler says he took the photo as a stance because “no one seems to be taking the issue seriously”.

He added that there have been “around 20 water leaks” on the same road in the past five years – to which he blames on old Victorian piping.

Tyler, a marketing director, said: “Apparently it won’t be fixed until after this weekend – but I’ve seen comments on a Facebook group saying there’s no one on the site so I don’t know if that’ll happen.

“They don’t seem to be taking it that seriously and it’s a massive inconvenience to local residents.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We’re sorry our work to repair the leak on Old Hill in Chislehurst has taken longer than normal.

“We’ve had to investigate the best way to shut off the pipe so it doesn’t affect water supplies in the area, while we complete the repair.

“Whilst the investigations were being completed, we covered the excavation hole with sheet pilling and have also repaired a valve to enable us to shut in the water pipe while it is fixed.

“During this time we have also been scheduling improvements to the network so it is easier for us to access the necessary pipes if we need to work in the area in future.

“The repair is planned for completion today.”

Have you got a story for us? You can contact us here.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep up with all the latest news.

Sign up to our newsletters to get updates sent straight to your inbox.