A CHIPPING Sodbury resident has spoken of his anger after a water company made a hole in a wall and refused to clean it up.

Arthur Price, of Robin Way, claims that Bristol Water knocked down a section of brickwork outside a hairdressers on Heron Way while completing an installation.

The problem was then made worse by local youngsters, who began “congregating” in the area and “throwing bricks around” before making the hole in the wall “even larger”.

Bristol Water have since refused to clean the mess up, according to Mr Price.

“This is about accountability and Bristol Water just aren’t taking responsibility for their actions,” he said.

“Residents have been forced to hide loose bricks to stop youngsters from taking them - it’s not good enough.”

Chunks of the wall were reportedly scattered all over the place before a member of  Dodington Parish Council voluntarily cleared up the mess.

But the lasting damage is “unsightly” and a “matter of principle” for Mr Price.

He said: “The concern now is that the wall has been weakened and soon more bricks will be loose.

“This could lead to broken shop windows and local house damage unless something is done.”

The wall is located on a section of land that is privately owned and connected to the Tern Inn.

Amanda Sutherland, an agent working on behalf of the owner, said that her client was “very disappointed” at the way Bristol Water dealt with the situation.

She also confirmed that the water company has passed the matter over to their legal team.

 “We were made aware by Arthur that there were issues with a partially demolished wall on our land a month or so ago,” she said.

 “We contacted Bristol Water but they passed the matter to their legal team and threatened us that in their view there should never have been a wall there so they didn't have to reinstate it.”

According to Ms Sutherland, a representative of her client helped to remove the loose materials to help prevent damage to the local community.

A spokesman for Bristol Water told the Gazette: “We always aim to protect our mains.

“This does not permit any development, such as walls or buildings, on top of our main as we will need access for maintenance.

“We cannot comment further on a specific case as there are legal discussion still ongoing.”