A Shropshire resident has blasted Severn Trent Water after the utility giant told locals to be “frugal” with their water usage.

Derek Fewtrell, who lives in Donnington, Telford, said he thought the request was “unbelievable” after bosses said recent rain across was not enough to rule out the possibility of hosepipe bans. Mr Fewtrell, 81, said the company had failed to fix a serious leak on St Georges Road despite it being reported weeks ago.

“I find it unbelievable Severn Trent would demand customers to be less wasteful when they are throwing away water by the gallon,” said Mr Fewtrell.

“The road has been leaking for around eight to 10 weeks and they are telling us to stop wasting water, the water is running down the road.

“I have spoken to others and they all agree it is out of order. I have spoken to some of the men working on the leak and they told me they were not even from Severn Trent, what is going on?

“I would like some answers from Severn Trent as to why this mess is carrying on for so long and wasting so much water.”

Sonia Southern, a spokeswoman for Severn Trent, said they were aware of the problem and had brought in a specialist team.

She said: “Severn Trent is aware of the concerns about the leak. Usual inspections were undertaken and there was no indication as to the whereabouts of the leak from above ground.

“As a result it was agreed that a specialist team would need to be allocated to the job. Due to the busy nature of the road the team will be working this weekend in the middle of the night to try and identify where the leak is coming from.

“Once this is achieved a job will be raised and repairs on the leak will begin. We aim to deal with any report of a leak as quickly as possible and most repairs are turned around within a day, but some take longer due to the circumstance of the job. We apologises for any inconvenience this may have caused.”