HOMES in a suburb of Brighton were unexpectedly without water for four hours today.

Engineers were sent to Wilmington Way in the Patcham area of Brighton at 10am to repair a 4in water valve that was leaking.

They had to open a fire hydrant to reduce the pressure but, in doing so, affected the supply to properties farther uphill.

One resident said: "I'm angry about it because there was no notice or communication of what was going on."

Engineers eventually fixed the leak by 2pm.

A spokeswoman for Southern Water said the company received six customer calls over the loss of supply.

She said: "The repair was complicated and affected the water supply to a small number of customers.

"Our work is now complete and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused."