A burst water main caused severe flooding to several gardens and threatened to enter the homes of residents in a Dundee street on Saturday.
The tenants were left with no water supply for several hours after Scottish Water switched off the faulty main supply outside their homes in St Mary’s and engineers completed the repair on Saturday night.
The company was in hot water with the residents though as the burst was not treated as an emergency by Scottish Water, meaning the householders had to watch for hours as the water level rose, cascading down the pavement and into gardens, threatening to damage their homes.
It is thought the burst happened about 2.30pm and residents in the quiet row of houses noticed it shortly after 3pm.
However, despite several phone calls from the neighbours, it was after 6pm before an engineer attended, residents said.
Fred Taylor, 57, who lives at number 43 St Leonard Road, said: “One guy came out about ten past six and shut the water off. He said he had been on since six o’clock in the morning.
“I think he covers from Invergowrie to Arbroath and he was the only one on duty.
“A team of boys then came out and repaired it and the water was switched back on at the back of nine.
“The water was running down the pavements and at the house two doors up it was only about a couple of inches from the doorstep.
“It was more than ankle deep in some places but Scottish Water said it wasn’t an emergency.
“They said once the fault is isolated their target is to repair it within six hours, but it was back on again at the back of nine.”
A spokesman for Scottish Water said: “A burst water main was reported to us by a customer in Broomwell Gardens, Monikie, at 9.55am. A standby engineer was called out and switched the water off to do a repair at 1.40pm and restored supplies at 5.55pm. This affected around 100 properties in the area.
“At 3.25pm we received a report of a burst water main on St Leonards Road in Dundee from a customer in McAlpine Road. As soon as the Monikie work was finished the engineer attended to this burst, arriving at 6.15pm and the water was restored at 9.40pm.
“The water levels were of concern to some local residents who called to say they were in risk of flooding. Fortunately the water did not reach that level and the speedy repair soon returned customers to supply.
“As it was on the weekend, we have a reduced amount of standby staff who deal with such emergencies. We apologise to local people who were affected by these burst water mains and we want to thank them for their patience and understanding as we carried out this essential repair work.”