HUNDREDS of residents were unable to flush their toilets or take a shower after being left without water for days.

More than 200 chalets at Clacton’s Meadowview Park residential site were left bone dry over the Easter weekend after a water system malfunction.

Residents were told to collect water from a single tap at the front of the site while it was fixed.

But the timing of the breakdown meant that site bosses could not get the parts they needed to fix the problem.

Site manager Alan Collins said: “A water main blew up on Thursday and we have been largely without water since then.

“It has been a nightmare, particularly with it coming over the Easter bank holiday.

“We tried to get the plumbers in but it blew out again. We managed to get a temporary repair done but the water pressure is far too low.

“Because it is Easter we just haven’t been able to get the parts to fix it.

“The parts have been ordered and it will be fixed as soon as they arrive.

“It has been very difficult for everybody, but most residents here have been very understanding.”

But some residents were furious at being left high and dry.

One, who asked not to be named, said: “It has been terrible. Everyone has struggled with it.

“I don’t know what went wrong but it has been difficult for everyone to get by without water coming through the taps.

“There is a tap at the entrance of the site but a lot of people here are elderly and they can’t go and haul buckets of water back to their homes.

“We are desperate for it to be fixed as soon as possible.”