Severn Trent under fire over 'two-year' leak

Severn Trent Water today came under fire for taking two years to repair a leak outside a Shropshire school.

Residents said the leak outside William Brookes School, in Much Wenlock, froze solid in winter and posed a danger to pupils when they were dropped off and collected. They repeatedly reported the leak in Station Road but it was not until last week that Severn Trent Water workers finally stemmed the flow.

One resident, 61-year-old Trevor Childs, said: "Severn Trent is always telling us to save water."

He added: "Lord knows how much has been wasted at that site.

"I am a shareholder in the company and I think it should get its own house in order before telling us to economise."

Mr Childs, of The Crescent, Much Wenlock, first noticed the leaking meter cover outside the school in 2008.

He said: "Myself and others eventually gave up reporting it as nothing happened other than someone came and looked at it.

"The last time was at 11pm, approximately two months ago. Someone turned up with a flashing light and a generator running flat out. The leak stopped for a few days but it became worse than ever."

Mr Childs added: "Someone finally turned up from Stoke-on-Trent last week. Then two others arrived in separate cars and a van also turned up. They got some tools from the van, reached in and fixed it."

Severn Trent spokeswoman Gill Dickinson confirmed an engineer had repaired the leak on August 10. She added: "It may be that there has been an intermittent problem, which has been attended to and fixed only for it to recur.

"We are grateful to Mr Childs for drawing the matter to our attention.

"We do encourage our customers to report any suspected leaks they find, and endeavour to fix these promptly."

By Simon Hardy