THOUSANDS of Londoners were left disgusted as brown water came gushing out of their kitchen taps.

Residents in six different postcode areas of South London noticed the "dirty water" coming out of their pipes from about 8:30am this morning.

Complaints were reported by homeowners in Croydon, Mitcham, Morden, Tooting, Wimbledon and Raynes Park.

Locals took to Twitter to report the water issues as some shared images of brown water in their kettles, sinks and bath tubs.

Tooting MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan tweeted a picture of a filthy glass she poured today and urged Thames Water to investigate.

She tweeted: "Local people in SW17 are reporting dirty water coming out of their taps this morning. I have contacted @thameswater and asked them to investigate."

The firm confirmed that iron sediment had entered the water supply during maintenance work, causing the liquid to discolour.

Addressing Thames Water, one social media user tweeted: "Why on Earth does my tap water look like a urine sample this morning?"

Another asked: "Why is drinking water this colour? Answers needed."

A third commented: "@Thameswater is serving me brown water. Apparently something unsettled their pipes. I didn't realise pipes need a stable psychological outlook."

Thames Water said customers from the areas of SW17, SW18, SW19, SW20, CR0, CR4 had complained about the incident.

The firm apologised and engineers are flushing the dirty water from their pipe network.

A spokesman said the discolouration was caused by maintenance work, which disturbed sediments within the pipes.

Thames Water said the water is not contaminated or harmful to health, and all supplies are expected to be clear within the coming hours.

The spokesman added: "It's certainly not sewage. The sewage and drinking water systems are completely separate."

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