Frustrated residents living in a road which has been dug up more than 70 times in five years say they are still plagued by water supply problems.

London Road, which runs from Greenhithe to Swanscombe, has been the subject of 73 permits for various construction work in the last four-and-a-half years and there have been 18 water main repairs on a five-mile stretch of the street.

People living in the surrounding area say they regularly suffer with low water pressure as the old cast-iron pipes are prone to bursting and they are petitioning for Thames Water to improve their service.

Swanscombe councillor Emma Ben Moussa (Labour), who launched the petition, said the troubles with the water have been constant for the past two years, but still fairly sporadic until three weeks ago.

She said in one week alone there were four new leaks – in Manor Road, Durrant Way, Brenda Terrace, and Milton Street – leading to disrupted water supplies to homes.

During the weekend of this summer's heatwave, residents reported waking up to no water at all.

One man, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "It's always going to be frustrating when there's a water outage during heatwave conditions, but I think it was made more frustrating by the fact that the water company's promised updates on the website but the live tracking had no record of the incident in our area."

Cllr Ben Moussa said she had to travel to her mother's house when she was left with no supply.

She said: "People were genuinely struggling without water at some of the hottest temperatures on record.

"This is unacceptable for residents, and an unacceptable performance from Thames Water. It is a criminal waste of water when the same companies are telling us we need to prepare for drought conditions.

"If they can't provide the service they shouldn't have the monopoly over the water. I've lost faith in Thames Water and Swanscombe is out of patience."

Charles Street resident Liz Edgar said she has reported the leak on her road to Thames Water twice over the course of the past two months and has received no response.

The grandmother-of-four added: "It's a constant battle it seems. The water pressure can drop, causing my shower pressure to drop, I noticed.

"When the repairs are finally carried out, sometimes over a month, the traffic is horrendous, and it seems once one is fixed another pops up 100 yards away due to the pipes being ancient."

The retired office manager described another leak on London Road as "absolutely shocking, gushing onto the road, causing more havoc".

A Thames Water spokesman said of the latest problems: "Following reports of a leak, our engineers visited the site on June 6 to investigate. They located a Thames Water stop valve which they tried to fix on the day.

"However they found they need to excavate and dig further down into the area so they can access the necessary pipework to stop the flow of water and fix the leak. This work will be scheduled in."

Swanscombe and Greenhithe councillor Peter Harman said the disruptions to the water service cause much wider problems: "There's a lot of traffic disruption, restricting roads; it cuts down the water pressure in many houses.

"It's a waste of thousands of gallons of water, and it looks like we've got a drought coming.

"They're making restrictions on water use but wasting gallons of water by not repairing the leaks fast enough."

Cllr Harman, who also chairs the Swanscombe and Greenhithe Residents' Association, has arranged a meeting with Thames Water and Dartford MP Gareth Johnson.

He added: "We really want to find a way forward for all residents and drivers. With the help of our MP we can make some positive movement."

MP Gareth Johnson said he had been in contact with Thames Water for the past month and told them the problem is serious.

He said: "Thames Water haven't done enough, frankly, and I'm quite frustrated with the way they have handled it."

A Thames Water spokesman said: "We know it’s not acceptable to be losing so much precious water and we’re doing something about it. It’s not going to be quick, but we’re making progress and we’ve met our target for the last two years.

"Last year, we reduced the amount of water lost by 5.4%. Our aim is to reduce our leakage by 20.4% between 2020 and 2025."