Paul Allen, from Bayston Hill outside his house where a broken water pipe is saturating his front lawn.

A Shropshire man today told how his family had faced 10 days of water pouring across their front garden from a leaking stop tap despite repeated calls to Severn Trent.

And after several failed attempts by Severn Trent technicians to halt the troublesome leak, they finally solved the problem for Paul Allen, who claims he has now been left with a broken water meter inside his house.

Mr Allen lives in Yew Tree Drive, in Bayston Hill, Shrewsbury, with his wife Jayne and their seven-year-old son Harry.

He said the leak was in the road outside their house and despite three visits from Severn Trent the water had continued to flow.

Mr Allen, who is a bakery manager at Sainsbury’s, said initially Severn Trent had sent out a team of workmen who covered the leak in tarmacadam but the water had lifted the patch-up away and spread on to the garden.

After the leak was fixed, mud seeping into the internal system in the house left the family without water.

Yesterday Mr Allen said: “This is now the 11th day, it’s just ridiculous.

“For 10 days we’ve had water gushing out of the road and down the garden towards the house. We’re really fed up with it. The garden is covered in mud and it’s still a mess.

“The inspector has been out again and we now need a new meter because a back-up of mud and sludge has got into the system.”

Grace Marren, spokeswoman for Severn Trent, said: “We’d like to apologise to the customer and thank him for his patience.

“When a water leakage is reported we send an inspector out first to investigate the situation and establish if work needs to be carried out.

“On September 14 we received further calls that the tap was still leaking. We sent an inspector out but unfortunately we had a number of burst mains to deal with and we did not have the resources to attend that day. However, a gang were sent out on September 15 to repair the leak.”

She said someone had been out yesterday to restore the water supply and they would fit a new meter as soon as possible.

By Emma Kasprzak