Openreach poles prevent Thames Water from fixing 'ridiculous' leak reported in Wendover

Residents in Wendover have labelled the leak “ridiculous” as for “roughly a month” water has been leaking in the neighbourhood at a time when people have been told to save resources.

In the middle of a heatwave neighbours have been left dismayed at the lack of action that has been taken to fix the situation.

Thames Water says it is unable to act on the water leak on Nash Lee Lane due to Openreach poles blocking the mains.

Until the poles are removed Thames Water engineers are unable to fix the problem.

A spokesperson for Openreach told The Bucks Herald: “This issue was reported to us on July 19 and our engineers are now assessing what’s required for our poles to be stabilised while the water repair takes place. We’ll work with Thames Water to get the work done as quickly and safely as possible.”

Wendover resident Ian Hosking told The Bucks Herald: “Given the need to save water more than ever given the recent heatwave, it is ridiculous that its still not sorted.

"This is a huge loss of water.

"When we go up and down the roads the car gets splashed, but it is not the end of the world.

"It’s more that the people telling us to save water are not doing anything about it.

"You can see the silk growing on the puddles which show that it is not a recent thing.

"The neighbours say, ‘we’ve reported it, and it has got to the point now where we call so regularly we are going to become a nuisance caller’.”

Local authorities and the Government have encouraged citizens to think seriously about saving their water in the wake of the recent unprecedented heatwave across the UK and the growing price of bills during the cost of living crisis.

Water companies released a series of water saving tips for people this summer, including covering paddling pools, using rainwater to spray plants, and encouraging gardeners to consider when they water their plants, to improve efficiency.