‘You’ve ruined our road’: Villagers blast water company after two years of leaks

Residents living along Broome Road in Craven Arms, said they first contacted the water firm two years ago, when water began flooding the road.

Bernard Rose, who lives on Broome Road said: “Between Broome and Aston on Clun a distance of a quarter of a mile the pipe was constantly bursting.

“It got so bad, water was running down the road. We kept escalating reports of the leak to Severn Trent who would keep telling us ‘You haven't been forgotten’.”

He said the water firm had made repairs on at least five occasions, closing the road and hampering access for residents, but never fixed the source of the issues.

He added that last month, Seven Trent sent an engineer out who identified what Mr Rose said was the source of the leaking mains pipe, and contractors were sent to fix it.

But Mr Rose claimed that they twice dug up the road in the wrong place.

“They came out three times,” said Bernard. “Two times was because they dug up the road in the wrong place. Then they finally got the right place, third time lucky - exactly where their engineer said it was.”

He said while the leak has been fixed, the road is now pitted with potholes and there is damage to a property in the village.

“They've ruined the road. Three's now potholes and damage to a neighbour's property. It has been a complete farce,” said Bernard. 

"With the amount of times they have come out, it must have cost thousands - at least three times more than it should have been if they had dug up the road in the right place the first time.”

He added that the road now has another leak further along and he fears that they may have to go through the whole episode again.

He said: "Now we've got yet another leak and the road is closed in on the way to Aston-on-Clun. The leak was repaired last week, the road has been closed ever since. The hole is not filled in. It is a complete and utter disaster around here." 

Severn Trent Water said there had been a number of leaks on the road and not one over-riding issue and work is underway to "restore the area".

A spokesperson said: “We know Broome Road and the surrounding area has experienced issues such as leaks and burst pipes, but there hasn’t been a continuous leak on our network. 

"When there have been problems, our teams have been on site as quickly as possible to get them fixed.

“Restoring the area after recent repairs has taken longer than expected due to traffic management and permit delays, but completing the work remains our priority. 

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused and recognise the need for longer-term improvements with plans for future investment in place.”