Oak Tree Road Marlow leak - Gallons of water 'cascades' down road

Oak Tree Road residents and shoppers have been blighted by a constant stream of water leaking from a hole in the pavement and despite dozens of reports from fed-up neighbours, nothing has been done for weeks.

Raymond Frith, who lives on the road, said he reported the leak at least seven times online, and his neighbours have also put in their own.

Mr Frith, an engineer by trade, told Thames Water it appeared to be coming from a manhole cover in the pavement opposite Londis and went through a detailed questionnaire to report the problem on the water company’s website.

But despite a string of reports, the issue had still not been solved, so he called Thames Water up to ask for an update.

Remarkably, he was told by the person on the other end that they had received no reports of any leaks in Oak Tree Road.

Mr Frith said: “Water is cascading out and it’s created a big hole in the road from the force of it. There’s another leak outside the Londis which is pouring down the road.

“When I phoned Thames Water last Friday to say I was upset I hadn’t had any response, he said hadn’t received any reports – I said I had done at least five, my neighbours had also put reports in.

“A number of us are very upset because this guy said not one of our reports were seen or picked up – we went through the whole process for nothing.

“I don’t know how many gallons of water have been wasted because of this. I was speaking to a neighbour who was saying how ridiculous this all is when a car went down the huge hole that has been created.

“This needs reporting. Thames Water has a system that is absolutely useless – not one report has gone through.”

Mr Frith said there may have been some confusion because it was reported as coming from a manhole cover, when the correct term should have been that the leak was coming from a boundary box, an underground outside chamber containing a valve that connects the Thames Water network to customers’ pipes on their property.

He said: “Thames Water are clearly at fault. Their reporting system is nonsensical. They said someone would come out within seven days – and that’s a ‘priority’.”

He also added that Thames Water has allowed fresh water to be wasted at a time when residents are usually being asked to save it.

He said: “Every summer we are told we’re in drought conditions and we must save water, but they are letting gallons go down the drain.

“The shops are also moaning because shoppers are unhappy about having to step over the other leak to get into the shop.

“It’s so fast, the stream of water is missing the first drain and cascading down the road to the next one.”

A spokesman for Thames Water said: “We’re sorry for the delay in responding to Mr Frith’s report about a leak on Oak Tree Road and thank him for bringing it to our attention.

“Following investigation, we confirmed the leak was coming from a boundary box instead of a manhole. On Wednesday (July 28) an engineer visited the site and stopped the flow of water.

“We’ve now arranged for the boundary box to be replaced and will assess and complete any necessary repairs on the road when we fix this.”

Despite claims that the flow of water had been stopped on Wednesday, when a reporter visited the site again on Thursday night, there appeared to be no change in the leak.