Utility giant faces repairs battle

HUNDREDS OF Thames Water staff are walking the streets at night, listening for leaks, as the utility giant battles to make repairs after a year of extreme weather wreaked havoc.

Chief executive Steve Robertson said the group is deploying teams of night-time leak detectors as part of efforts to avoid a repeat of this year’s supply woes that left nearly 75,000 people without water.

It comes after the utility giant – which has 15 million customers – revealed in its recent half-year results that the Beast from the East and the prolonged heatwave caused a surge in leaks and water supply outages.