Councils inundated by burst water pipe problems
Thousands of burst pipes have been dealt with by councils and housing associations in the Black Country and Staffordshire during the last month - with repair bills running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Thousands of burst pipes have been dealt with by councils and housing associations in the Black Country and Staffordshire during the last month - with repair bills running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Workers have been called to plug leaks in council homes, schools, libraries and other public buildings following the freezing weather. A large number of call-outs were due to new "green" condensing boilers which are now required by law when replacing an old one but are more prone to breaking down.
Freezing temperatures caused 630 burst pipes in council homes in Wolverhampton. Wolverhampton Homes said the average cost of an emergency repair is £53.84. Wolverhampton City Council also dealt with burst pipes at Westcroft and Oxley primary schools.
In Walsall, the council's property services department carried out repairs to 50 buildings. Walsall Housing Group carried out 2,000 more jobs than normal in December, with 500 related to burst pipes.
Dudley Council's corporate property team has dealt with more than 140 jobs from the start of December in schools, council offices and community buildings.
Repairs to council homes in the Dudley borough soared by 39 per cent during December's freezing weather, with a total of 6,181 jobs tackled. But a council spokesman said the figures were for all council home repairs and not just weather-related problems.
Sandwell Homes today recorded a 30 per cent increase in emergency and urgent heating-related repairs due to the cold weather. It dealt with 3,532 call-outs for help to gas breakdowns in November and 4,520 in December — rises of 28 per cent and 44 per cent respectively.
South Staffordshire Housing Association dealt with 300 burst pipes during the cold snap. Meanwhile, Cannock Chase Council dealt with 65 burst pipes during the holidays, while further problems with boilers and heaters were handled by its contractor PH Jones.
Stafford and Rural Homes housing association dealt with more than 100 emergency call-outs to burst pipes and heating problems on Christmas Day and Boxing Day alone.
Bromford Housing in Lichfield has fixed 100 burst pipes during December.
