the water leak in Wyton, WGC

A WATER leak in a WGC street has not been fixed for over a day – at a time when residents are being threatened with £1,000 fines for using hosepipes.

The water leak in Wyton, WGC, has not been repaired for more than 24 hours

Water has been pouring out of a meter in Wyton, in Panshanger, since yesterday morning (Wednesday) and has yet to be fixed by Veolia Water Central, based in Hatfield.

And one resident has hit out at the water company for failing to deal with the leak sooner, just a week after introducing a county-wide hosepipe ban.

Carl Coveney said Veolia workers arrived shortly after the leak was reported yesterday, but left without repairing it.

“The reality is they want everyone to turn off their hosepipes, but they’ve left this running for 24 hours,” he said.

“This was reported on Wednesday at 8.30am, and nothing has been done other than a visit by a Veolia van and driver. It’s not exactly a flood of Noah proportions but given the fact of the crucial need to save water their response seems pretty lax.

“I’m sure there’s hundreds of people who could have fixed this, but they’ve got the entire market and they don’t really care.”

Veolia brought the hospepipe ban into force last Thursday, following months of exceptionally low rainfall.

Residents caught using hosepipes face prosecution and a £1,000 fine.

A Veolia Water spokeswoman said the Wyton water leak, casued by a broken stopcock, was scheduled to be fixed this afternoon.

“Someone went to look at it yesterday to make an assessment and it is being repaired today,” she said.

“Our priorities list looks at health and safety, and whether the water is running to waste or into footpaths, creating a risk that someone might fall over.

“It hasn’t been repaired yet but it is scheduled to be this afternoon.”