BUSINESSES can apply for compensation after a water leak caused days of disruption in the city centre with some already saying the water company should cover their losses.

A water leak at the junction of Shaw Street and Sansome Street in Worcester caused issues for businesses although trade is said to be returning to normal this week after repairs.

The burst happened on Sunday, May 12 as water poured out of a hole in the ground resulting in road closures.

Businesses nearby including Poppins, The Coffee Nook and Coffee Warehouse say trade is now returning to normal after repairs were completed and the road reopened on Friday, May 17.

Worcester News: BURST: The water leak looking from Foregate Street towards The Foregate before the successful repairs were carried out by Severn Trent Water BURST: The water leak looking from Foregate Street towards The Foregate before the successful repairs were carried out by Severn Trent Water (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

Severn Trent Water worked through the night to fix the burst pipe and those who feel they have been damaged by the leak can contact the business loss team at BusinessLoss@severntrent.co.uk for further advice, if they believe the works have affected their sales.

A spokesperson for the cafe Poppins said: "Things have improved since they fixed it which proves that the leak was the cause. The four days the road was closed we were unusually quiet. Since the road has reopened it's gone back to expected levels of business.

"I think we should get compensation. We were directly affected by the roadworks. We lost around 50 per cent of our trade."

Severn Trent Water has been asked if any compensation claims have been lodged but had not confirmed this was the case by the time the Worcester News went to press.

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Adam Law of The Coffee Nook in Foregate Street said: "The situation has definitely improved."

However, because they have not been trading for six months he does not believe the business will be able to claim compensation because Severn Trent would need more data.

Carmen Prodan, a supervisor at Coffee Warehouse, also said trade had improved since the repairs were made.

Paul Baldwyn, Streetworks lead for Severn Trent, said: “We’d like to apologise to everyone who was impacted by our emergency pipe repairs on Foregate Street. We know roadworks like these are really frustrating, but they are there to keep our teams and the public safe and we appreciate everyone's patience. 

“This has been a very complicated repair which has seen our teams working through the day and night, when water demand is at its lowest. Our priority throughout this complex repair has been to keep everyone on supply in the area, including a local hospital and we’d like to thank everyone for their patience and understanding.”