A GRANDMOTHER who cares for her terminally ill brother is being forced to pump out 150 litres of water a day from her home after a pipe burst in early August.

And Sheena Bevan, of Adelaide Road, says the people responsible are failing to help her.

The 57-year-old said she noticed at the beginning of August that there was a leak at the bottom of her stairs.

Thinking it was caused by her shower, she called a plumber to investigate.

The plumber told Ms Bevan the leak was from outside her property.

Southern Water found a water supply pipe had burst, leaking water underground and into Ms Bevan’s home.

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Four houses behind Ms Bevan’s property used to belong to housing company Aster, three of which are now privately owned.

She contacted Aster who she says initially denied owning the pathway where the pipe lies.

Ms Bevan said she then contacted her ward councillor, John Cockaday, who contacted Aster on her behalf.

The housing company then admitted to Ms Bevan its ownership.

The Test Valley borough councillor said: “It’s not her fault that the pipe is leaking into her home.

“But she’s the one that’s suffering.”

A neighbour told Ms Bevan that a similar problem occurred a few years ago and that Southern Water had fixed it as a goodwill gesture to the previous owner of her home.

Ms Bevan said Southern Water told her that as the pipe was privately owned, they could not act further.

She says that the two companies are in contact with each other but as of yet, the pipe has still not been fixed.

Ms Bevan, who works on quality control for a security company, said: “You work hard and it’s totally being ruined.

“I think it’s disgusting in this day and age that big companies aren’t prepared to say ‘let’s just do it and see what the consequences are.’ “Why isn’t somebody just saying ‘let’s fix it’?

“It’s now a major structural repair.

I’m really angry and upset about it all.”

The grandmother-of-five has to pump water out of her house for an hour in the morning and again when she comes home in the evening.

Ms Bevan bought a new Wet & Dry Vacuum and says she empties the four to five litre capacity machine about 30 times a day.

Her floors, walls and stairs are saturated with water and the longer the problem is not fixed, the more damage is being done to her property.

Her 55-year-old brother, Iain, has myeloma cancer and tries to help while she is at work.

Ms Bevan added: “He’s just so upset for me and tries to soak up the water but he doesn’t have the strength.

“He gets very frustrated that he can’t help as much as he wants.

“He’s just so poorly, he’s not able to do it.”

As a result, Ms Bevan is driving her brother to Scotland today and tomorrow where he will stay with their parents before moving into a flat of his own.

While she is away, her daughter will stay at her home to keep pumping the water out.

She added: “I’m paying all my bills, working really hard and basically my house is falling apart because of the water.”

A representative from Southern Water said: “We’re sorry to hear about the problems at this property.

“We’ve been out to take a look and have found the leak to be on a private pipe that supplies a handful of properties.

“Information has been given to these homes explaining what steps the property owners should now take to repair the pipe.

“In cases like this, where the pipe supplies more than one property, the repair may need to be organised collectively.

We’ve fed this information back to the council but will happily talk things through further if anyone has any queries.”

An Aster Group spokesman said: “Southern Water has confirmed that the responsibility for repair is a joint responsibility between us as the landlord of number 56, and the owners of the three adjacent properties.

“We are currently awaiting a waste water notice from Southern Water to be issued.

“We are not able to take any action until all parties jointly liable for the repair are in receipt of this notice and have agreed to the cost of the work required.”