A woman from Braintree has criticised Anglian Water for taking 23 days to fix a leak which has caused damage to her home.
Water from an underground pipe on neighbouring property has been pouring on to Barbara Farren's house, in Rosemary Avenue, and is causing damage to an outside wall
Miss Farren said: "This is not a slight leak. This is a fast-flowing stream of water that has caused dampness to seep 18 inches up my walls and I notice my path is actually being worn into a gully."
The leak, coming from a pipe outside a neighbouring council house, was reported to Braintree Council on October 15 and Anglian Water made their first visit to the house the following day.
Almost three weeks later, after several more visits from Anglian Water and Braintree Council, water is continuing to damage Miss Farren's home.
Anglian Water said the delay in fixing it arose from confusion over paperwork between the neighbours, Braintree Council and Anglian Water.
A spokeswoman for Anglian Water said a water leak on council or private property it is technically the owner's responsibility, but, if asked Anglian Water is happy to repair the pipe free of charge.
She added: "There appears to be some confusion about whether or not we had the letters of authorisation, giving us permission to go on to the property, but now we know we have their permission we will be able to get it sorted as soon as possible."
The company hopes to fix it on Thursday, 23 days after it was reported.
Published Tuesday November 5, 2002
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