Why it took 10 WEEKS to fix a leak in a South Manchester street

A water leak in a South Manchester street has taken 10 weeks to fix. The leak on Barlow Moor Road, between Linden Road and Elm Road in Didsbury, was first reported on July 8, according to one local councillor.

However, United Utilities only fixed the leak last Friday (September 16). The water company needed a council permit to close a lane on the busy A-road and temporarily suspend a bus stop while repairs were carried out.

But the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that the town hall only received the application for a permit from United Utilities last week. Didsbury West councillor John Leech said the delay was 'not acceptable'.

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He said: "They have no justification for leaving it 10 weeks before fixing it. I think it reflects very badly on water companies that they think it's acceptable to leave a leak for that length of time.

"In some parts of the country people have been subject to hosepipe bans. It's just simply not acceptable at all – they can't even attempt to justify it."

A spokesperson for United Utilities confirmed that the repairs to the leak on Barlow Moor Road were carried out on September 16 and completed that day. The water company apologised for any inconvenience caused, but explained that the location of the leak meant that permits were required to do the work.

However, the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that United Utilities applied for the permit on September 16, the same day it was used.

When asked to respond to this, the spokesperson added: "We always try to respond to leaks as quickly as we can and we are currently repairing more than 700 a week but with over 40,000km of water pipes