LONG-suffering Upper Hale residents have expressed frustration following two-weeks of disruption at the junction of Upper Hale Road and Alma Lane due to a burst water main.

Workers from South East Water were called out to fix the latest fault to Upper Hale’s problematic water supply at around 11pm on July 5. However, the works were still ongoing a fortnight later.

The burst pipe has been fixed, but reinstatement work to the footpath is still under way, therefore the temporary four-way traffic lights will remain in place for the time being.

It comes after nearby residents were forced to protect their homes with sandbags and were sweeping water away from their properties until 2am on July 6.

Gravel Road homeowner Alan Crunden is among the worst-hit victims of the burst main and has expressed his frustration with the situation, having put in the emergency call on July 5 as he saw his garden patio starting to rise with water.

South East Water initially surmised that the faulty pipe was located under his garden and instructed contractors Clancy Docwra to dig up his lawn - first by hand and later, after removing his fence, by digger.

However, after working throughout the night, Clancy Docwra determined the problem was not located under Mr Crunden’s garden after all - instead sourcing it to two main pipelines in Upper Hale Road.

The water company has since repaired the 25ft gap in Mr Crunden’s fence. But he is still left with a severely sunken lawn and patio (pictured), which he has been told to put in an insurance claim for.

Magnanimous despite the upheaval, Mr Crunden said: “The workers were lovely lads, it wasn’t their fault, they were given the go ahead by managers.”

He added: “I have driven through a few times and every time there has been stand-still traffic. Coming from Farnham I will now go along the Farnham by-pass and up Castle Street because otherwise it’s mayhem, it really is causing huge problems.”

The burst water main is the latest in a long line of problems to affect Upper Hale’s infrastructure in recent years, including gas works lasting approximately 11 weeks, the installation of a pedestrian crossing at Farnborough road junction, repairs on a leaking water pipe at junction with Sandy Hill and previous traffic lights were put in whilst telecoms company BT installed four new poly ducts in the carriageway.

Responding to the latest fault, county councillor for Farnham North Stephen Spence said he has raised a number of issues with South East Water since July 5 and criticised the length of time it has taken to solve the problem.

“I have asked the county council’s highways department for an explanation of why it has been taking so long but have not yet had a response,” Mr Spence told The Herald.

Mr Spence explained that since 2010, £500 million has been capped from the county council’s budget and a further £100 million in savings are to follow.

“The impact from the budget cuts and the enormity of the caps cannot be helping,” said Mr Spence, adding “due to it being one thing after another it must be frustrating due to previous issues, however, I am looking for information and answers.”

South East Water’s regional works delivery manager Neil Morton said on Wednesday: “We have completed work to reinstate the garden of a nearby property to its original condition and are finishing work to repair damage to a footpath along Upper Hale Road.

“We will be replacing a metal safety barrier on the footpath today (July 20) and we expect to remove the temporary traffic lights by the morning rush hour period on Friday (July 21).

“I would like to thank local residents and motorists for their patience while we repaired the damage caused by the burst water main.”