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Burst main a lower priority
HUNDREDS of gallons of water poured from a burst water main for almost three weeks before workmen came to repair it.
The leak outside the Globe pub in Clare lasted for 18 days as workmen failed to arrive to fix the problem, despite several calls made by worried residents in nearby Callis Street to Anglian Water.
The leak became progressively worse after calls were first made more than a fortnight ago by the pub landlord and other residents.
Workmen initially came and marked the pavement with blue crosses to indicate where work needed to be carried out. A week later still no-one had arrived to stop the leak, which by that time had become a small stream flowing into drains further down the road towards Bridewell Street.
Derek Woodley, 72, who was looking after the pub while the owner was on holiday, phoned Anglian Water again last Monday and was told that it had no record of the burst water main, but the situation would be dealt with in a further 10 days. Workmen finally arrived to carry out repairs after several more calls were made by members of the public last Wednesday.
A spokesman for Anglian Water said it had to prioritise its work. Cases such as those where someone's drinking water could be affected are dealt with first. "It was just a lower priority than some of our other bursts that we had to deal with and that is why it took a bit longer", he said.
Date : 26-08-2005
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