Why is a water leak in Foregate Street taking so long to fix?

While much of the county is experiencing low water levels, there’s plenty of water to be found in Foregate Street, where a leak in the road has been keeping a large puddle topped up for several weeks.

Residents have reported the leak, which is near the junction with Shaw Street, to both Worcestershire County Council and Severn Trent Water. The latter is the authority responsible for actually fixing the problem.

We reported in May that a burst water main in Foregate Street had been repaired on the same day and fully cleared later that week.

The puddle is near the junction of Foregate Street and Shaw Street

But this issue is taking longer to sort out - and a conversation on Twitter suggests repair efforts are being held up by red tape.

Replying to a resident’s concerns on the social media platform, Severn Trent said: “We’re just waiting on our traffic management request to be approved so the works can be carried out.

“We have asked for traffic management and will need to go further with the work due to the road being very busy.”

Foregate Street puddle has been 'gradually getting worse'

Responding as part of the same Twitter thread, the county council’s highways department said: “We can confirm that we have not yet been approached by Severn Trent regarding this.

“This leak has been gradually getting worse over the last few weeks, so we are expecting them to contact us regarding a permit any time soon.”

Meanwhile pedestrians, drivers and cyclists have been left to simply avoid the puddle the best they can.

READ MORE: Worcester man caught with drugs at train station

Crash sparks new calls for changes to controversial junction

Clarice Sutcliffe, who works front of house at The Steamhouse bagel shop in Foregate Street, said: “The puddle has been there for a couple of months at least. It just came out of nowhere one day.

“If people are walking past they can get splashed if a car goes past quickly - that happened to me one day on my way into work - but we’ve not noticed any customers complaining about it.

“And we do have outside tables and the puddle could put people off sitting there, but no-one’s said that’s the reason.”

We have asked Severn Trent for comment. Worcestershire County Council said it was a matter for Severn Trent.