A water pipe repair which caused a pensioner sleepless nights has been rectified after the Herts Advertiser intervened.

Kenneth Bruce, 82, who lives in Bricket Wood, had contacted Affinity Water before Christmas about a leak between the path and his bungalow. A new stopcock was fitted but when an engineer from HomeServe, from whom customers of the water company can obtain insurance cover, arrived at the property on December 11, there was still a leak in the garden.

HomeServe returned on January 3 to carry out a repair but Mr Bruce was not happy with the way it was done as a four joint system was introduced on the supply pipe which he was sure was not necessary and was also a leak risk because of its positioning.

After contacting them again, he was told no-one from HomeServe could come out again until January 24, By that time, by his own admission, he was having sleepless nights worrying about the situation, fearing that the pipe could be damaged by snow or severe weather.

But Affinity Water moved fast to resolve the issue when contacted by the Herts Advertiser, getting in touch with Mr Bruce on the same day and visiting him.

They confirmed there no leakage at the property and HomeServe sent an engineer around two days later, on January 12, who dug out the pipework and replaced it with one pipe running underneath the bungalow.

Mr Bruce said this on Tuesday (17): “Affinity Water came out yesterday to take a reading and make sure everything was okay.”

A spokesperson for Affinity confirmed that Mr Bruce was now ‘happy with the repair’ and HomeServe had offered him a goodwill gesture in recognition of the inconvenience he suffered.