Romsey woman slams Southern Water, claiming a water main burst for the 'third time'

Cheryl Kingston hit out at Southern Water after she discovered the leak, comparing it to "several babbling brooks", on Tuesday, July 14.

Now, the 47-year-old has criticised the company for allowing water to gush onto the pavement in Bransley Close for more than 24 hours, while claiming they urge customers to do everything they can to save water.

Cheryl, who lives in Kinver Close, also complained neighbours were kept awake, due to the repair work starting at "9pm on Wednesday" before stopping at "2am on Thursday".

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The leak in Bransley Close

However, a spokesperson from the company insisted their "engineers had an issue locating the main, which meant the repair time was longer than usual".

Cheryl said: "The leak started on Tuesday at lunchtime and the last two leaks have been several months apart, with one happening in the winter.

"When the water comes up it is like several babbling brooks and on Tuesday you couldn't use the footpath, because it was seven inches deep.

"The water was soaked into the grass nearby and it was like a swamp.

"There is an elderly chap in Bransley Close and the water went right up to his doorstep, so we asked Southern Water to bring out sandbags for him, which they agreed to, but they didn’t turn up."

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She added: "Southern Water will send you your bill with a long list of thing to do to save water and yet they let this gush away.

"When we finally got them to realise this was not just trickling water they said they would send someone out in an hour.

"They then started work at 9pm on Wednesday and were drilling until 2am; I did not sleep that night because the bedroom was lit up with this orange light from the digger - it was like a disco ball.

"Our water was also turned off at 10.30pm and no one told us about this, but it was turned on again before they left on Thursday morning."

Cheryl stressed "part of the pavement had to be replaced", because it was pushed up by the water.

When asked why this area keeps flooding, she claimed the water system had been there "since the 60s" and the company aren't "putting money back into replacing" it.

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Chely added she will be sending a letter of complaint to Southern Water.

A spokesperson from Southern Water said: "We are sorry for the inconvenience caused to residents in Bransley Close by the recent burst to the mains.

"Our engineers had an issue locating the main, which meant the repair time was longer than usual, however, once located the repair itself was very straightforward and water was off for 90 minutes."