Crisis hit Catrine this week as the village faced hefty disruption to its water supply, causing many to rely on the distribution of bottled water from community groups.

A frozen valve caused the disturbance to normal water supply in the area, leaving residents without safe running water for days.

But a potentially disastrous situation was prevented from escalating further thanks to the Catrine Community Action Plan and Catrine Community Council, who worked closely with Tesco staff in Auchinleck to provide bottled water to the elderly and self-isolating.

Tracy Smith of Catrine Community Council explained: “We contacted Scottish Water due to water supply issues and highlighted the plight of all the villagers.

“We made offers of collecting water from Scottish Water and helping distribution and were in contact throughout to achieve a quick resolution.

“As the local Facebook pages were filling with comments from concerned villagers, we decided to contact Gail Mullen from Tesco, Auchinleck for some help.

“We were astounded not only at how quickly they responded but they had water collected and stored in trolleys for the team to collect and had made an order for more for to be delivered if we needed it, all free of charge.

“We would like to thank Tesco, Auchinleck in particular Gail Mullen and managers Karen and Sandra for responding to our plea so quickly and generously.”

A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “Freezing temperatures meant that some customers in the Mauchline area experienced an interruption to their normal water supply. We understand the frustration this caused, and we apologise to all those affected.”