Water company Acea said the wall of an ancient Roman aqueduct which supplies the fountain was damaged by builders constructing an underground garage.

Water from a second aqueduct has been redirected to the Trevi to avoid the spectacle of it running dry.

The Trevi, a baroque landmark dating from the 18th Century, was popularized by films such as La Dolce Vita.

The builder of a new car park in northern Rome partially walled up the Aqua Virgo conduit after damaging its structure, plugging the flow of the water.

During the repair work, estimated to take at least two months, water will be redirected from the other surviving underground aqueduct into the Trevi Fountain.

But in the short term, the water currently gushing through the fountain will have to be recycled to avoid turning it off.

“We can repair it but we can’t really reconstruct it the way it was built,” Signore said.

Source: BBC.co.uk