WESSEX Water today defended its controversial watermain repair work on Dorchester Road in Weymouth, saying another major burst could leave the town without water for a week.

The firm has been heavily criticised for its scheme to replace a 70-year-old cast iron main which has become brittle with age.

Divisional manager David Elliott stressed the work was very much the lesser of two evils.

He said: "Weymouth has been lucky over the last two years, because despite having 15 watermain bursts, they have all been minor.

"It has caused some anger at us being on site for two or three days to put each one right, but people don't realise how bad a major burst would be.

"If that happened in the middle of summer when the town's population was at a peak then large parts of Weymouth could potentially be without water for up to a week. We would then have to try and deliver water by bowser and bottle.

"If that happened, I think there would be much more criticism, so people should accept that we are trying to do what is best for them.

"Better a little disruption now than a lot later when Weymouth would be faced with even more disruption to replace the main."

He added that Wessex understood the anger and concern caused by the disruption of traffic.

Mr Elliott said: "We have been working hard to listen to those concerned and to try and take everyone's views into account.

"It is important to realise that Wessex will have pumped more than £38 million into Weymouth between 2000-2005 to improve community services and this investment, one of the largest in our catchment area, is very important for the tourism industry."

He added that Wessex appreciated public concern.

Mr Elliott said: "We expect to finish on time, maybe even a little early, and we will continue to do everything we can to keep any disruption to a minimum.

"A good example of this has been the lights outside Wey Valley School. We were given permission to turn them off and this was done by county council traffic safety staff, but it did cause some problems so we are now paying for an extra lollipop lady to safeguard children's safety at this point."

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