It was like Niagara Falls in my garden

8:00am Saturday 5th July 2008

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PEOPLE living in a Worcester road were faced with “Niagara Falls” in their gardens as water gushed from a burst water main on a nearby golf course.

Pauline Maney, of Cover Green, Warndon Villages, watched in horror as water poured into her garden, under her conservatory and home before lifting up part of her front drive.

She said she and neighbours were forced to call police and the fire and rescue service for help after receiving a lacklustre response from Severn Trent Water’s emergency line on Thursday evening.

The neighbours said it was not the first water leak from the dis-used golf course, which used to be Tolladine Golf Club, and have questioned why the water main has not been replaced, particularly in light of a £2 million fine recently dished out to the water company for lying about water leaks.

Mrs Maney said: “The water was so violent it was cascading into the road onto Woodgreen Drive.”

She called Severn Trent’s emergency line but when no one had arrived after an hour, she called police.

Anna Neath, also of Cover Green, said: “My garden was like Niagara Falls.”

Neighbour Liz Hughes said: “I took the dog for a walk at about 7.30pm and came back to find the street full of people and torrents of water between mine and my neighbour’s house.

“It was coming through my fence. The force of the water was just horrific.

“I tried to phone Severn Trent and got absolutely nowhere.”

Mrs Hughes said after waiting in a long queue to talk to an operator at the water company she called the fire service who sent an officer out.

She said: “He was fabulous. My neighbour called the police who were brilliant.

“Everybody else responded with the most help they could give us – just Severn Trent Water don’t seem to have an emergency line and when you do get through don’t seem to be able to deal with emergencies.”

Mrs Maney, who is now waiting for a loss adjustor to assess the damage to her garden, said Severn Trent fixed the problem at about 9.30pm on Thursday.

A spokeswoman from Severn Trent said: “We’d like to apologise to any of our customers who were affected by burst pipe in Cover Green, Worcester, and thank them for their patience while we work to resolve any perceived outstanding issues with them.”

The spokesman said the company would look into customers’ complaints about the service they received.