COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Homes have been flooded and residents moved out after a major water pipe was damaged during work in Coventry.



Maisonettes in Sunnybank Road on the Stonehouse Estate were affected.

Severn Trent Water said it believed a contractor cut through a mains water pipe accidentally during works on Wednesday evening.

Resident Lynda Reece said: "It was a brown sea on the road and like a brown river running down the gardens, up to my shins. It was tidal almost.

'Absolutely saturated'

"All the water seemed to come down into our maisonette," she added. "I was in the back garden and I suddenly saw this big wave of brown water coming down. It was coming in waves, thick brown water.

"I didn't think a leak could cause that much water."

Ms Reece and residents from three other flooded homes were moved to a hotel for the night.

She said: "Our neighbour is 90, her house is absolutely saturated, completely through the two ground-floor maisonettes, and she's carpeted throughout."

Sarah McArthur, of Severn Trent Water, said: "The damaged pipe is large - more than half a metre in size."

She said the water supply had been shut off and repairs would be carried out later.

"As the damaged pipe is buried more than six metres beneath the ground, this may take some time," she added.

Severn Trent vows to investigate Coventry water pipe flood drama



Severn Trent bosses have vowed to investigate how a water pipe was sliced open causing a number of homes to be flooded in Coventry.

Neighbours in Sunbury Road, Tollbar End, told how they were met by a “river of water” invading their homes on Wednesday evening after the water main was damaged in nearby Stonehouse Lane.

A handful of residents even had to be evacuated and put up in a hotel overnight after their homes were flooded.

A spokesman for Severn Trent said: “Residents who have suffered damage to their homes have been patient and understanding.

“We are working with them and recognise that this has been a difficult time. We’ll continue to do all we can to help to get things back to normal.

“We will be carrying out an investigation to understand the causes of this issue to help prevent it from happening again.”

The company said that the damage to the pipe was caused by a third party contractor but luckily the water supply to homes was unaffected.

A spokesman added: “The water pipe was very large and a lot of water escaped on to Sunbury Road and into homes.

“We shut off the damaged pipe, which had to be done slowly to manage pressure in the system.

“Work to dig down six metres to reach the damaged pipe continued overnight and into Thursday morning and proved difficult due to other utilities pipes in the area, but we were able to reach it. Repairs to the pipe were then being carried out.”