A BEWDLEY man has hit out at a water company that failed to officially inform him about repair work being carried out in his street until two weeks after the workmen arrived.

Jeff Hull said contractors from Severn Trent Water arrived in Woodthorpe Drive to start work a fortnight ago without any warning.

The workers have dug several holes along the road to access the pipes and Mr Hull said it came as a surprise to many of the people living in the street.

He added he had made numerous phone calls to find out what was happening before receiving a letter on Monday, which explained what the workers were doing.

The 60-year-old said that while the work was causing a minor inconvenience, as cars parked on drives were occasionally blocked in and visitors found it hard to park, it was the delay in Severn Trent informing the residents about the work that he was unhappy about.

The business development manager said he was not against the work being carried out but felt the residents had a right to be kept informed when it was going to affect their daily lives.

Mr Hull said: "The most annoying thing is that no-one told us. We didn't know what was going on - they just all descended on us. We should have been told before it started so we knew what was happening. It is a complete and utter mess. I look out the window of my front room and there is this great hole."

Ben Smallman, spokesman for Severn Trent, said: " To anyone who wasn't aware, we do apologise. We have employed an outside firm to deliver the notification to our customers and they may have failed to inform some residents in Woodthorpe Drive and because of that we have gone there ourselves to tell people the work is taking place.

"The usual procedure is that they would have been made aware of this work well in advance and got an information pack."

He added: "We also let the Highways Agency and the media know in advance. It is part of a £1.2million scheme to replace old water mains, which would be in danger of cracking. There will be a much cleaner and reliable water supply. We do hope people bear with us as it is important that we do it."