Express & Star

"An absolute joke!" Wolverhampton water leak still ongoing as heatwave hits reservoir levels

A leak from a burst pipe in a Wolverhampton road was not able to be permanently fixed this week due to Severn Trent being called to an emergency job elsewhere.

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The leak on Mount Road, Wolverhampton

The leak on Mount Road had been temporarily repaired on Sunday night and teams were due to revisit the site on Thursday to complete the job.

However, an emergency call out stopped the planned repairs, meaning water is still spilling out across Mount Road as the country endures a scorching heat wave.

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We’d like to apologise to anyone affected by the leak on Mount Road in Wolverhampton. We received reports of a leak causing damage to the road on Sunday, and our teams went out to investigate the same day.

“A temporary repair was made to the pipe and our teams were due to revisit the site last night to complete the repair, however they were called out to an emergency .

“We’re aware that since then the pipe has started to leak again, but due to the location of the pipe, and for the safety of our teams and other road users, we can only visit the site late at the night or very early in the morning. Our teams will visit the site again tonight to fix the leak and complete the repair.

“We’re really sorry for any inconvenience caused by the leak on Mount Road and we’d like to reassure everyone it’s our priority to get the repair complete and the road back to normal as soon as possible.”

The leak coincides with blistering temperatures nationwide and a drought being declared in eight areas of the country.

Severn Trent has this week instituted its Drought Action Plan and pleaded to millions of its customers to be "mindful" of the amount of water they are using, as the company's reservoirs are only 58 per cent full, down from 80 per cent in June.

Sophie Evans-Young, water efficiency manager at Severn Trent, said: “As the glorious summer sunshine continues, there’s naturally a greater demand for water so our teams are working around the clock to keep the network in good shape.

“Our region has experienced the driest July in a century and with no rainfall in the forecast, we’re asking people to be mindful of their water use, as small behavioural changes can add up to a big difference."

“We’d like to thank all our customers for their continued support as the warm and dry weather continues into the summer.”

The leak on Mount Road, Wolverhampton

The irony is not lost on residents of Mount Road.

One resident, who did not wish to be named, said: "It's always leaking here every two or three months. It's an absolute joke. It was only just repaired four months ago.

"There are traffic jams and sometimes you have to travel ten to fifteen minutes to get around it."