Holes the size of a bus will need to be dug into the road at 150-metre intervals to enable the £75 million overhaul of the city's water system to take place, a meeting heard.

Members of Watervoice, a watchdog which represents customers, were told people would have to brace themselves for road closures and major disruption.

The 76-mile stretch of ring main follows the city centre ring road and access points will have to be dug along the road for the work to be done.

Speaking at the meeting in Bradford's Hanover Hotel, David Woolloff, manager of water quality in Bradford, said: "Just to do a mains clean, which is one of the simplest tasks, you have to dig the hole and clean out the system and check and test it.

"It will take the best part of a fortnight and then the procedure will need to be done 150 metres down the road."

Caroline Atkins, who is the communications advisor for the project, said a contact centre with 30 telephone lines was being set up in Thornbury to deal with customer queries dedicated to the Bradford scheme.

"Because the ring main follows the ring road it is going to be pretty disruptive for people," she said.

"Parts of the ring main are 36 inches in diameter, they really are big and it shows the size of the excavation we need to make.

"It is going to benefit all of Bradford but likewise it will have some kind of impact."

She added they would be holding extensive consultation and meeting with people in Bradford including police, councillors, business leaders and representatives of ethnic minority communities.

Work is already underway at Chellow Heights Water Treatment Works and repairs will start in the Toller Lane and Daisy Hill area in the new year.

She said Yorkshire Water's appointed contractor Kentons Utilities has moved its base from Barnsley to Bradford to show its commitment to the project.