THOUSANDS of gallons of water have been lost down the drain from a leak in a busy Hampshire street which has gone unrepaired for more than a fortnight.

But there seems to be some confusion about who is responsible as the building is shared by two companies.

The Royal Mail and neighbours easyGym are blaming each other.

Royal Mail employees claim their maintenance company checks the building regularly and they have been told the current leak is coming from the upstairs kitchen.

But easyGym manager James Gould said: "We had a plumbing company in and they told us the issue with the current leak was with Royal Mail.

“But if Royal Mail have since found out that it’s our problem then we will definitely want to get it sorted.”

Steve Plumridge from Millbrook contacted the Echo about the problem after seeing the water pouring out of the building in Shirley and causing a huge puddle.

Mr Plumridge also reported the matter to Southern Water who told him they would be issuing a wastage notice to those responsible.

The angry Echo reader said: “It’s such a waste.

“All they’ve got to do is get in an engineer to fix it.”

It comes as environmental chiefs warn that rivers such as the Itchen and Test are far below normal levels.

Environment Agency figures show that England had just 34 per cent of is normal rainfall in April and the south east had just 19 per cent.

A spokesperson for Southern Water said: “We’re continuing to monitor the situation closely, with clear plans in place to make sure we’re fully prepared, should the relatively dry weather continue in the months ahead.

This includes building on our ongoing campaign to encourage and support our customers to save water, energy and money - providing them with a wide range of water-efficiency advice.”

They added: "We have received a call about a leaking pipe outside a gym on Shirley Road, Southampton.

"We believe the water outside is as a result of an overflow inside the gym making its way out onto the pavement.

"One of our inspectors will be visiting the site to see if we can help the gym identify the root cause of the problem and offer advice on how to fix it."