A leak that has been left unfixed for more than a month has wasted thousands of litres of water, a resident has claimed.
John Clarke, 72, likened the situation to being in a third-world county.
The Vicarage Road resident said he has contacted South West Water on multiple occasions regarding the amount of water being haemorrhaged from a broken pipe, which he estimates to be in excess of more than 345,000 litres.
He added: "You are supposed to a good customer, doing your duty, but no one seems bothered.
"I think it is appalling. I almost feel like I'm in a third-world county sometimes because of the way it has gone on.
"The waste of the water is appalling. Water is a precious commodity that should be valued, not allowed to drain away."
He said the leak is right next to a school so parents and their children risk being splashed by passing cars.
"It is totally unacceptable," he added.
A South West Water spokesperson said: "A leak at Vicarage Road in Sidmouth was reported to us on June 23.
"We have had to request permission from the highways authority to use temporary traffic lights during the repair, which is currently scheduled for Tuesday, July 16 and will be completed as soon as possible. The repair was originally planned for this week but had to be rescheduled due to emergency work.
"Leaks are prioritised according to the size and if it's causing damage or danger to the public and we'd like to reassure your readers that finding and fixing leaks as quickly as possible is a top priority for us.
"We monitor leakage in each of our 900 supply zones across the region. The Sidmouth supply zone includes the whole town so it is not possible to determine the precise volume of water lost from this particular leak. However, compared to a major burst the volume of water lost would be relatively minor.
"The cost of repairing leaks comes from our regional leakage budget."
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