Water leak ‘like a river’

A NEW river has been formed through a Nuneaton community – as a major leak continues to pour out thousands gallons of water more than TWO weeks after it first started.

Residents in Galley Common have even given the huge leak its own name, ‘Plough me a River,’ as it has become such a focal point in Plough Hill Road.

The two week long water leak has been causing chaos in the community, most notably during the snowy and icy conditions, plus it is located near to Galley Common Infant School.

A resident, who did not want to be named, said: “We have had a water leak on Plough Hill road for over two weeks, thousands of gallons of water streaming down that road.

“I reported this the very time it happened, my concern was freezing water and making it hazardous to all ,nothing was done for 24 hours except traffic lights that contributed to traffic hold ups. “After five days and no work done I contacted our MP Marcus Jones who chased it up with Severn Trent to be told that they cannot turn it off due to 29,500 houses will be affected. “We have had that frost and accidents have happened, this leak is outside an infant’s school and parents are getting soaking wet with children. “School children walking down the hill to school are getting drenched by vehicles driving past, my own granddaughter has been soaked from head to toe because that road has only a footpath on the one side of that road to walk. “That leak was caused by a workforce trying to turn the stopcock off for building work being done across that road. Who pays for thousands of gallons going down the drains, how come Tewkesbury can get work done in hours yet Galley Common can suffer?”

The Telegraph contacted Severn Trent and a spokesperson apologised for the disruption and said, while not ideal, they hope the works will be completed over Christmas.

“We’d like to apologise for the disruption caused by the leaking hydrant near the school but, as it’s connected to one of our bigger pipes, we’ve had to plan carefully before we can start work fixing it to make sure that no-one loses supply,” the spokesperson said.

“We’re confident we can now start the repair this week but that’s also going to mean we’ll have to bring a lot of specialist machinery to site and that will have to be in place over the Christmas period.

“We know it’s not ideal, especially as it could also affect the hospital, but we hope that everyone understands that the work needs to be done safely, both for our teams and also for pedestrians, and carefully. Once again, we’d like to say sorry for all the disruption, especially given the recent weather.”

This leak is outside an infant’s school and parents are getting soaking wet with children. Resident