Larkhall burst main causes nine inches of ice

Jan 14 2010 by John Rowbotham, Hamilton Advertiser

A BURST main – combined with sub-zero temperatures – turned part of a street into a “skating rink”.

Furious residents of Cherrytree Crescent, Larkhall, said the pipe ruptured on Boxing Day.

In the days following, water pouring from the pipe froze, leaving parts of the street covered in up to NINE inches of ice.

Residents contacted Scottish Water to complain about the problem. However, it wasn’t until last Thursday, when the Advertiser contacted the company, that staff began a full repair of the broken pipe.

Angry Helen Brown said last Thursday morning: “The burst main is in Maple Drive and the water has been running steadily into Cherrytree Crescent since then.

“As it flows down, it is freezing and over the days the ice has built up. The whole road has become an ice rink. The ice is now right up to people’s driveways.

“I cannot get my car out and people driving into the road have, because of the ice, had to turn round and go into the street at the other end. Even my dog has had difficulty walking on the ice.”

She added: “Neighbours have contacted Scottish Water and the council. Scottish Water staff did come out at one stage, but nothing was done. We have not seen a gritting lorry (since the burst) even although the council’s road maintenance depot at Summerlee is near here.”

A Scottish Water spokesman said on Thursday afternoon: “A team of engineers are currently attending the leaking main in Larkhall and a full repair is being carried out this afternoon. Our squads are making every effort to deal with the exceptionally high number of call-outs. We would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

Last week the council’s enterprise committee chairman Chris Thompson said the gritting operation was focused on main routes.

A spokesperson for South Lanarkshire Council said: “We appreciated the situation in Cherrytree Crescent was fairly unusual. We commenced excavating the ice on Friday and completed it on Saturday. Approximately 250 tonnes of ice was removed to tip and the area was treated with salt.”

NOT N-ICE: Helen Brown tries to negotiate the `river of ice’ in Cherrytree Crescent.

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SLIP SLIDIN’: frustrated Anne Cunningham tries to manoeuvre her car out of Cherrytree Crescent.

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