Yahoo News Outraged Devon villagers block SWW from carrying out planned works
Outraged Devon villagers say they are taking a stand against South West Water - by parking their cars over a key stretch of road where contractors from the water corporation are planning to carry out works.
Locals in the parish of Washfield, near Tiverton, say they have had enough after South West Water dug a large hole in the road down a residential lane, which was said to have been left unattended for a week. Residents say as a result of the works, they were left struggling to get around the village and even access their homes.
Villagers became even more disgruntled his morning (Saturday) when workers returned and set out traffic cones, marking their intention to carry out further works - this time on the road immediately outside the village hall.
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It comes during a busy weekend of events in the community hall, including a memorial service this afternoon for a much-loved member of the community, with an expected turnout of around 100 people. To prevent disruption for those wishing to pay their respects, villagers have taken it upon themselves to remove the traffic cones, and park cars over the area marked out for another hole to be dug.
Anne Moore, treasurer of the Washfield Memorial Hall, said: "We are all very angry and frustrated. Our requests to stave off this work until Monday have fallen on deaf, uncaring ears, and South West Water arrived this morning with a view to shutting the road to do the works.
"We're sad that they would want to try and disrupt a weekend of important events for our village, rather than waiting a little bit longer to come back and do the works. They have closed the road this morning, but have since disappeared, saying they might come back later or tomorrow to start work. It seems to be a pastime of theirs to come down, put cones out, stand around on their phones, and then go away again."
Anne says she feels the "small leak" outside the hall is "nothing more than just a trickle of water running down the road". The South West Water currently does not list a reported leak in the area and the company is yet to confirm what the works are for.
John Burton, Washfield resident and former chair of the village hall, was the first villager to park his car over the leak when he arrived at the hall this morning to help Anne set up for the memorial service.
He described the actions of South West Water workers as "utterly inconsiderate". He added: "The leak they are planning to work on has sprung up half a dozen times over the last four years - they keep coming out to look at it, but it hasn't been fixed. If they do it carefully, they can fix it so people can still get past, without having to close off the road. It's crazy."
South West Water have now confirmed they will be carrying out the works on Monday, after requests from local parish councillors. A spokesperson for the company said: ""Our team won't be actually working on that road until Monday, to carry out repairs to the burst water main underneath.
"It was requested by local parish councillors, and we don't want to cause too much of an impact, which is why we'll be doing it on Monday - we have just put the signage and spray paint down in the meantime.
"To clarify on where the area will be, following the New Roads and Street Works Act regarding traffic management and safety, we have to keep a 2.5-metre edge to our safety zone - and if there isn't enough room then we would have to close the road."
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