Flint city council has failed to come up with a long-term solution to their water crisis, a judge announced on Friday, more than three years after high levels of lead were first recorded in the water supply.

US District Judge David Lawson rejected the council’s proposal for an extension with the Great Lakes Water Authority.

He argued that the two-year extension was not the long-term plan that he had ordered last week and refused a request for more time from the council.

The town, which lies outside Detroit, may be pushed into bankruptcy as a result of the delayed solution.

Mr Lawson was adamant that council members were elected to “govern by acting in the interest of the common good”.

He said: “That has not happened over the past year and now time, which is of the essence, is in short supply."

The immediate impact of the judge’s decision remains unclear. The 30-year deal would have relieved the city of bond debt to a different water agency and supplied residents with “safe water at predictable rates”, he said.

In pictures: Flint water crisis Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Flint water crisis In pictures: Flint water crisis Anthony Fordham picks up bottled water from the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan to deliver to a school after elevated lead levels were found in the city's water in Flint Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Michigan National Guard Staff Sergeant William Phillips (L) assists a Flint resident with bottled water at a fire station in Flint Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Flint residents Arthur Woodson, left, and Tony Palladino Jr. protest the arrival of Flint native and filmmaker Michael Moore as Moore accuses Gov.Rick Snyder of poisoning Flint water during a rally outside of city hall in Flint AP In pictures: Flint water crisis Flint residents pick up bottled water and water filters at a fire station in Flint. Michigan National Guard members were set to arrive in Flint to join door-to-door efforts to distribute bottled water and other supplies to residents coping with the city's crisis over lead-contaminated drinking water Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Soldiers from the Michigan Army National Guard Flint prepare to give Flint residents bottled water at a fire station in Flint Getty Images In pictures: Flint water crisis Justin Roberson (L), age 6, of Flint, Michigan and Mychal Adams, age 1, of Flint wait on a stack of bottled water at a rally where the Rev. Jesse Jackson was speaking about about the water crises at the Heavenly Host Baptist Church in Flint Getty Images In pictures: Flint water crisis A man sits next to a stack of bottled water at the Heavenly Host Baptist Church in Flint 2016 Getty Images In pictures: Flint water crisis The top of a water tower is seen at the Flint Water Plant. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Michigan and ordered federal aid to be used to help state and local response efforts to an area affected by contaminated water Reuters In pictures: Flint water crisis Rosie Wright, center, rallies with the crowd over Flint's water crisis in Ann Arbor, Michigan AP In pictures: Flint water crisis Rick Catherman participates in a rally around Flint's water crisis in Ann Arbor, Michigan AP

In 2014 Flint residents were faced with poisoned water supply after the city switched its water source to the local Lake Huron river to cut costs.

Almost immediately residents complained of the taste, discolouration and smell of the water which was found in 2016 to have poisoned with extremely high levels of lead.

In June, five local officials were convicted of involuntary manslaughter but Flint is still dealing with a lack of clean water.