VIDEO: Shaw residents angered by slow response to seven-week water leak, but Thames Water say oil pipeline is delaying repairs

A persistent water leak has angered residents of a Shaw cul-de-sac, but Thames Water claim a nearby oil pipeline is to blame for the utility company’s slow response to fix it.

Thames Water workers visited Highwood Close on Thursday, September 8, but were unable to commence the leak repair after discovering the presence of the pipeline.

The leak reportedly began seven weeks ago, and those living on the close are concerned about the volume of water lost and the time it is taking to repair the problem.

Highwood Close resident Alan Jones said: “It is just unbelievable. It is ridiculous. We are fed up.

“It’s just thousands of gallons; it’s like a river.”

Mr Jones called the amount of water wasted “astronomical”.

He also claimed that the leak has saturated the flower bed at the front of his property for weeks, and at one point, he had to brush algae off the road that had formed underneath the running water.

A Thames Water spokesperson explained that the company has to coordinate with the utility company responsible for the pipe to ensure engineers can work safely, meaning the repair is taking longer than normal to carry out.

The spokesperson apologised for the inconvenience it is causing.

They also said: “We know it’s not acceptable to be losing so much precious water and we’re doing something about it.

“It’s not going to be quick, but we’re making progress and we’ve met our target for the last three years to reduce leaks by 10 per cent.

“We’re working hard to fix leaks on pipes in our network and our aim is to reduce our leakage by 20 per cent between 2020 and 2025.

“We’ve grown our workforce to over 200 repair teams, helping us repair 19 per cent more leaks this August compared to last year and we are repairing over 1,100 leaks per week – whether they are visible or hidden below ground.”

Last month, more than 30 individual leak reports emerged in Newbury, Thatcham and Hungerford, with some running for weeks.

There are currently over 15 leak reports in the same areas.

Meanwhile, Thames Water recently announced that the current hosepipe ban (which came into force on August 24) will remain in place until 2023.