Couple's despair at botched water meter fitting

Tracey Bradley, who works for a hospice, now has to travel to family in Newcastle-under-Lyme to shower and do laundry

A couple have been left without water for more than a week after the installation of a Severn Trent water meter was "botched".

David and Tracey Bradley claim plumbers, contracted by the water company, have visited their property in Newport, Shropshire, six times but the problem is yet to be fixed.

They now have to travel more than 50 miles to family in Staffordshire just to do their laundry.

A spokesperson for Severn Trent has issued an apology to the couple.

David Bradley says he has lost faith in Severn Trent over the ordeal

Whenever the couple try to turn on their taps, it results in a flood.

Mr Bradley said: "The situation we are in now, having made so many botched attempts to repair, they have been cutting back the main supply pipe in our property until there is hardly any of it left."

His wife is an end-of-life care nurse and must shower before and after her shifts, as well as boil wash her uniform to protect her patients.

The couple fear the leaking water pipe could cause an electrocution risk

"I work with immune-compromised patients so it's good to have a shower and be clean before you go out to the patients," she said.

"I'm struggling. It's making life difficult. It's the little things like trying to brush your teeth, you try to turn the tap on but there's no water."

The couple have had to rely on neighbours for help, as well as making a nearly 50-mile round trip every day to family in Staffordshire to do their laundry and shower.

Mr Bradley added: "The toilets are a nightmare, it is embarrassing and degrading to have to flush toilets using buckets of water.

"We've worked in the NHS for a total of 82 years, we know how people survive on one bottle of water a day, that's what we're doing at the moment.

The couple have resorted to filling buckets of water from their neighbours' houses

"When it floods, it floods into a cupboard in the kitchen which carries the mains cable serving the cooker and the hob.

"Enough is enough, this carries a serious risk of electrocution and we're not having it."

A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We’re incredibly sorry to Mr and Mrs Bradley for the issues they’ve had since having a water meter fitted.

"The experience they’ve had is not what we’d expect from anyone working on our behalf, and we’re committed to making sure we put things right and address the issues raised."

It added that, since hearing about the problems on Friday, it had been attempting to arrange a meeting with the Bradleys and the contractor to resolve them