Anger as water leak in Oxfordshire left unfixed for weeks

Speaking to the Henley Standard, Chris Dale, 66, from Hobbs End, Henley, said the leak, originating from a Thames Water meter, has been causing issues for residents since the beginning of June.

The water flows downhill in the cul-de-sac, reaching the junction with Valley Road.

Mr Dale said: “I have lived here and around all my life. I love Henley and I want it to look nice and at its best. This leak isn’t helping.

“When you leave water like this for so long, it looks terrible. It makes such a mess.

“Thames Water is aware of the leak—they’ve marked the drain, and nothing’s happened yet.”

Mr Dale was informed that the leak would be repaired on Thursday last week, but said there was “no sign of anyone.”

MP for Henley, Freddie Van Mierlo, recently hit out at the CEO of Thames for saying its leakage targets are unrealistic (Image: Contributed)

He said: “It’s not a good scenario, especially with all this hot weather at the moment and how long the leak has gone on for. Surely, we should be preserving water and not wasting it?”

“If you were to measure the amount of water each day for every day it’s been going on for, how many gallons would that be? It would be a lot.”

With a hosepipe ban being imposed by Thames Water last month, Mr Dale said he is “surprised” the leak has not been repaired yet.

He added: “Every time I look on the television, they’re saying to be careful with water, be careful how many times you shower and have a bath, which is fine. But then you have this amount of wastage on top of that, no wonder we’re in trouble.”

A spokesman for Thames Water said that it was planning the repair.

He said: “Leaks like this often require working with the local authorities, and in these cases, planning repairs can take a little longer.

“Once we’ve scheduled the repair, we’ll send a team to fix the leak.”

This “share” would give the government veto powers over decisions such as mergers.

The lenders are also proposing giving local authorities greater involvement in the firm.

CEO of Thames Water, Chris Weston, speaking on the BBC’s Big Boss Interview podcast, stated that some of the targets were beyond what they could achieve.

He said: “We have to hit a certain level of leakage, but it is so far in excess of what we are capable of doing, I think anyone would be capable of doing, however much money you invested, that it is not going to be achievable.”

Thames Water, the largest water company in the UK, has been under fire recently for its handling of sewage discharges and leaks.

Last year, it was fined a record £122.7 million by regulator Ofwat, largely for breaching sewage spill rules.