SEVERN Trent water company is continuing its efforts to stop county pipes leaking.

The firm revealed it had fixed 2,885 leaks from April 2006 up until the end of November. But bosses have vowed to keep up the fight and an early new year's resol-ution has already been drawn up to fix even more.

Leakage manager Alan Payne said: "We are certainly stepping up our efforts and we want people to know that finding and fixing leaks is our priority. This year we anticipate fixing about 30,000 leaks, with 20 per cent of those coming from customer-owned private pipes. While we have no di-rect responsibility for maintaining these pipes, we will repair or replace up to 12 metres of service pipe free of charge.

"We are investing in hi-tech detection equipment as well, which will assist us in plugging leaks faster than before," he added.

Severn Trent is urging people to help do their bit by protecting their pipes during the winter months, with tips in-cluding knowing where the stop-tap is, insulating water tanks and pipes in unheated areas, keeping a boiler well-serviced, repairing dripping taps and faulty washers, and leaving the heating on low if you are away from home.