Ann Painter believes thousands of gallons of water has gone down the drain since her first call on 27 June.

Last Friday, after nearly two weeks of calls to the firm, she got a card through her door saying it would be dealt with within seven days.

SWW said it had to prioritise work on leaks according to their importance.

There must be thousands of gallons of water pouring down the road every day Ann Painter

Mrs Painter first spotted the leak behind her house on 27 June.

She said she made her first call to the firm at 2130 BST, which led to a visit from the firm at 2245 BST to confirm that it was responsible for the pipe.

She called again to say the pipe was still leaking on 30 June and 5 July.

On 6 July she had a phone call from SWW contractors Brent that they would call the next day.

Mrs Painter, 68, of Meadway, Saltash, said: "There must be thousands of gallons of water pouring down the road every day and they have done nothing at all."

'No shortage'

SWW told BBC News on Monday that it would be dealing with the leak within 24 hours.

A spokeswoman said that other mains water bursts had prevented them from dealing with the pipe, but said it did not ignore people's complaints.

She said: "We appreciate people's concerns, but there is not a water shortage in this area and we have to prioritise work on water leaks according to their effect on people's supplies."

SWW leakages are within targets, according to water watchdog Ofwat.

Last year the firm lost 84m litres of water a day.

An Ofwat spokesman said: "If they want to reduce that even further it would cost the company more than getting water from other sources."