WATER bubbled up from a footpath and poured down a village street for about 30 hours while a water company denied responsibility for mending the leak.

Angry resident Mike Lewis, of Jacomb Drive, Lower Broadheath, first noticed water running down his road at about 9am on Monday and found it seeping from the edge of the pavement, just above the kerb.

He said: "We get our water from Severn Trent, so I called their emergency leak line, but they said it was not their problem and I should call Malvern Hills environmental services."

Mr Lewis then called Malvern Hills District Council's emergency out-of-hours number, only to be told to call Severn Trent.

By 3pm, the water had lifted the tarmac and sprung another leak further along, near a telegraph pole.

"It's crazy," said Mr Lewis. "No one wants to accept responsibility and water is going down the drain, which is costing us, the general public, money."

The water company's own literature describes leaks as a waste of a precious resource. "It is in everyone's interest to get the leak fixed as quickly as possible," says Severn Trent's public information leaflet.

Parish councillor Paul Simmonds said Severn Trent usually dealt promptly with leaks and the one in Jacomb Drive was almost certainly their responsibility.

Meanwhile, said Mr Lewis's partner, Christine, the leak got worse overnight, until it sounded like a river.

Finally, at 2pm on Tuesday, workmen arrived in an Enterprise plc vehicle to mend the leak.

The Worcester News sought an explanation from Severn Trent Water on Monday and again on Tuesday, but no one was available for comment.