COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

A burst water pipe left most of a village without water for more than 36 hours, residents have claimed.



Ed Macalister-Smith has been using pond water from his garden to flush a toilet since the supply to Long Compton, Warwickshire was disrupted on Saturday.

"We are lucky to be healthy but quite a lot of elderly people here are struggling," he said.

Severn Trent Water said a burst pipe in Banbury led to "further bursts", but it had restored supplies to most people.

A spokeswoman for the company, which has been delivering bottled water to customers, said the initial fault affected postcode areas - CV36, OX15 and GL56, causing people to have no water supply or poor pressure.

"We've managed to get the majority of customers back on supply but we know some people in the Long Compton and Shipston-on-Stour areas are still without water," she said.

Teams were working "round the clock" to resolve the issue, including bringing in water into the area in tankers, she added.

Mr Macalister-Smith said his Long Compton home had been without water apart from "a brief period" on Sunday night and the situation had been "unpleasant and uncomfortable", particularly on one of the hottest weekends of the year.

His neighbour Robert Maguire had called Severn Trent's call centre about every two hours on Saturday and said while staff were "perfectly polite", he had been frustrated about the lack of information shared within the company.

"I had to tell them the supply had gone off again on Monday as they didn't know," he said.

Severn Trent to compensate over burst water pipe



Residents affected by a burst water pipe which left some without water for three days will be compensated, the supplier has said.

At least 40 homes in Long Compton and Shipston-on-Stour were without water on Monday - three days after the burst.

Sarah Jane O'Kane, of Severn Trent Water, said customers would be credited depending on how long their supply had been cut.

One resident said he had been using garden pond water to flush his toilet.

Another tweeted the company to say they had no water for their baby's bottles.

Ms O'Kane said the burst pipe in Banbury on Friday affected the postcode areas CV36, OX15 and GL56, causing people to have no water supply or poor pressure.

She said: "The burst pipe led to air getting into the pipe network and as the air has travelled through the system, this has led to further issues and further bursts.

"This has meant that unfortunately some customers have had an intermittent water supply as we've dealt with each issue in turn," she said.

She said the water supply had resumed for "everyone in Long Compton" by Monday afternoon, but there was still some homes in Shipston without water.

Customers did not have to contact the firm which would automatically credit customers affected, she added.