A BARRY shop owner is demanding action from Welsh Water after a pipe sprang a leak outside the premisesfive weeks ago and still hasn’t been fixed.

Brian Blakemore reported the problem to the company as soon as it was noticed, but despite making repeated calls about the water emerging out of the ground near the Pennies shop in Pendoylan Close, Gibbonsdown the fault has gone unfixed.

The water is streaming from outside the shop and along the street; stopping to flow into a drain next to St Brides Way.

Mr Blakemore, 74, of Coychurch Rise, Gibbonsdown, Barry, said he has so far witnessed three men attend the problem area.

During these visits a hole has been dug and surrounded by a barrier, and tools have been used to detect what lays beneath the surface.

He said: “A few months prior to that I told them there was a leak and you could hear the water running down a gully.”

Mr Blakemore said a man had attended and a hole, approximately two-and-a-half feet deep, had been dug with what he believed was electric cabling being found.

The hole has since filled with water.

“Nothing happened for a while.

“There is a constant flow of water,” he said.

“It’s like the river of Barry-lon.

“Sparrows have sat in it.

“A man collected water to put in his can.

“It’s annoying people and one little kid dropped his book in it.

“And the hooligan element have thrown bricks in.

“I don’t know what Welsh Water are doing because electricity and water just don’t mix.

“They promised me faithfully they would be here Monday (June 11).”

He added: “I just want them to fix the leak.

“Not only is it wasting a valuable commodity, but the next thing they will be saying is that there will be a hosepipe ban.

“I wont be a happy person if that happens.

“It’s really frustrating that nobody seems to be doing anything.

“If they attended and repaired it, that would be good.

A Welsh Water spokeswoman said: “We are aware of a leak on Pendoylan Close in Barry, and we have a team on site working to repair it.

“Due to location and engineering difficulties the leak is taking longer than expected to repair.

“We aim to resolve the issue as soon as possible.”