Warwick residents hit out at water leak

According to the residents nearby, the leak was first spotted in Chapel Street in the town in May.

They said that despite reporting the leak to Severn Trent nothing has been done about it.

Rick Thompson, who lives nearby said: “This leak has been running water down the lane for a while, certainly all the time during the very dry spell.

“It seems a shocking waste of water.

“Thousands of gallons must have gone down the drain from this leak alone when we and other people we know are conserving water as best we can to avoid a hosepipe ban later by putting washing- up water on the garden instead of using a hose and having showers rather than baths.

“It has been reported more than once to Severn Trent but they have ignored the leak.

“Is the problem that Severn Trent don’t have enough maintenance engineers?

“Are they simply inefficient in responding to reports of leaks? Do they not care very much?”

Recently a number of water companies have come under fire after a number of leaks happened and went unfixed during the dry spell in the country.

Marie Smith, who also lives nearby, said: “I walk down Chapel Street nearly every day. This leak has been pouring water for months. Its ridiculous.

“What can you do? You report it and nothing happens. I suppose Severn Trent simply haven’t enough staff.”

A spokesperson from Severn Trent said: “It was first reported to us mid-May, in this case the leak has took longer than usual to fix because we have to wait for permission to close a road, which will be in August.

“To fix the leak we need to organise a road closure with Warwickshire County Council.

“The leak is not causing any supply problems for our customers so we’ve planned the work while we wait for permission to close the road to allow us to work safely.”

A spokesperson from Warwickshire County Council said: “For planned work or events a minimum of three months notice is required to close a road. It is important that applicants discuss the detail of their proposed activity with us at the earliest opportunity, as this timescale can be reduced to eight weeks as long as the appropriate notification has been given. Severn Trent have made their application to enable work to be undertaken on Chapel Street and we anticipate this will take place at the end of August.”

Talking about water leaks, a spokesperson from Severn Trent said: “Over the last decade we’ve reduced leakage by 20 per cent which is roughly the same as the amount of water needed to supply the populations of Coventry, Nottingham and Derby.

“We’re absolutely committed to doing more, and have invested in drone and satellite technology to help us spot leaks, and have announced multi-million pound plans to install new monitors and pressure devices in our pipes to help prevent bursts before they occur as we look to reduce leakage by a further 15 per cent in the five years to 2025.”