Local authorities in Estonia have cut off water supplies to a neighbouring Russian town because of unpaid bills.

Russian news agency reports say the town of Ivangorod owes more than one-million dollars to the Estonian town of Narva, to which it sends all sewage and which supplies one quarter of its water.

The mayor of Ivangorod Anatoly Potapov said his town might be forced to dump the sewage into the Narva river, as it had no water treatment plant of its own.

The water supply was cut for a short period in November, but the Estonian government then agreed to pay some money towards the bill to avoid ecological problems.