WELSH Water have apologised after a huge hole they dug outside a man's garage blocked his vehicle inside for the best part of six days and jeopardised his business.

Peter Froud, 41, of Gilbert Street, Barry, returned home from the Peak District on the morning of Tuesday, August 8, to find the hole directly in front of his garage door on Glebe Street.

Workmen had also left piles of rubble and bricks either side of the hole, which had been dug to access a leaking water pipe for another property.

It later transpired that the hole had actually been there since Friday, August 4, and had been left uncovered since then.

Mr Froud, who is self-employed and needs his car to run his catering company, immediately got in touch to issue a complaint to Welsh Water.

"I phoned them up straight away and the first woman I spoke to took escalated it to a serious complaint," said Mr Froud.

"When they called be back they offered to send out a team to 'board it'. I told her that putting boards down would not work as it was very big.

"I also asked why nobody had bothered to inform me days earlier. She could not provide me with an answer for this."

Needing to use his vehicle to get to Sully the next day for work, Mr Froud was promised that the matter would be dealt with by the following morning.

But there was no sign of Welsh Water by the time Mr Froud had to leave. Fortunately, he was able to use his parents' car to cater the event, but even by the time he returned home they were still yet to arrive.

"I phoned them back and was told somebody would call within minutes to confirm what was going on," said Mr Froud.

"Around 12.30pm the 'fill team' turned up so I went and spoke to them. It seems that the 'dig team' do this kind of thing all the time and this is an ongoing issue.

"The fill team did what they promised to a very high standard and in swift time. I couldn't fault these guys at all."

Mr Froud is now seeking compensation from Welsh Water for failing to notify him of the work taking place and for the inconvenience caused, which he says he will donate to local charity Ty Hafan.

"I have a business to run and am a single parent. Leaving me without a car has left me trapped and stranded in my own home," he said.

"I fully intend on donating any compensation to charity. I only want to make the point that it is unacceptable to do this without giving notice. All they had to do is let me know."

A Welsh Water spokeswoman said: "After discovering a leak on a water pipe in Glebe Street, Barry, we attended the area to replace a section of the pipe on Friday, August 4.

"We usually give our customers advanced warning of our work and we apologise to Mr Froud that this did not happen on this occasion.

"We were keen to resolve this issue as soon as possible. We covered the area to allow Mr Froud access to his garage and fully reinstated the area on Wednesday, 9 August.

"Our customers are our top priority and we apologise if any inconvenience was caused to Mr Froud."