An entire housing estate of 1,500 people was left with no running water for the whole weekend, leaving them unable to wash, clean or flush the toilet.

Tankers were drafted in today to supply water to the Stamford Hill Estate but the top-up water has already run out in at least one of the blocks, and bosses at Southern Housing Group still have no idea what's causing the problem.

Many people complained that the housing association was slow to act, and that providing a few bottles of water on Sunday, was too little too late. To compound the situation, residents of one entire block were evacuated yesterday after a burst pipe flooded the building.

The situation - caused by an internal problem on the estate and no fault of Thames Water - mirrors what happened exactly three years ago on the same estate when tenants were left for weeks on end with no water.

Sheena Vidot told the Gazette: "We need help before the situation gets worse - this is an emergency. Southern is responsible for this disgraceful situation that is causing real issues. My heating doesn't work because there no water, and cooking, washing and hygiene are very challenging."

The problem is understood to lie with the water supply to the primary underground tank, but it is not clear whether that is because of a drop in mains pressure or a blockage in the pipes.

Resident Kim Coleman claimed Southern has been in touch with councillors to say that things were "under control", but that they hadn't checked on the welfare of their tenants, many of whom are elderly and vulnerable.

However Annemarie Fenlon, Southern's home and property services director, said: "Since the start of this incident, whilst our engineers work to resolve the problem, our priority has been to provide one-to-one support for our more vulnerable residents.

"As soon as we were made aware, our out-of-hours response provider was despatched immediately.

"On site, my colleagues continue to provide support and information, which they have been doing since Saturday morning.

"We are working to do everything we can to determine exactly where the problem lies and then get it fixed as soon as possible.

"We completely overhauled the water system and pipe work at the estate only two years ago.

"Whilst we continue to monitor the supply and support our residents, we have commissioned emergency water bowsers, which are replenishing the underground supply tanks so everyone affected should have running water in their homes."