It will be at least 48 hours before a burst main in a busy road is fixed, Thames Water has said. 

Dozens of home near the burst main in Chigwell Road, Woodford Bridge, have experienced problems with their water supply, with either no water at all or low pressure. 

Temporary traffic lights have been set up on Chigwell Road between Broadmead Road and Maybank Road. 

This is likely to cause congestion and traffic delays for motorists using Charlie Browns Roundabout. 

Engineers have been on-site since 10am this morning.  

A spokeswoman said:"We are sorry for any disruption this work will cause. 

"It’s a complex job as there are gas pipes and power cables close to our water pipe so we expect work to continue into the middle of the week.

"In the meantime we have re-routed water around our network to restore supply to as many properties as possible and will provide bottled water for anyone who continues to have problems."

Bottled water is available in Bramley Close, Copper Close and Orsett Terrace. 

The burst main is directly next to an allotment site and has completely flooded some of the plots.