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A BURST water main yesterday (Thursday) has left about 20 homes without water and flooded a number of garages - an occurrence which has become so frequent it is alarming residents.

People living on Kingsmede in Shefford say this is the seventh time the water mains have burst during an 18-month period.

Resident Candida Tingey said: “It keeps happening. We are up and down every night, just checking to see if the water’s out there. That’s what it’s like because it comes so quickly. It’s just unbelievable. We are just so worried our house will be flooded.”

Resident Nick Teer added: “It’s extremely worrying. We go on holiday and have to put sandbags outside our house and garage. It’s been happening for 18 months. Our biggest concern is the lady across the road, who is 90.”

Shefford mayor Paul Mackin explained that one home had to be evacuated due to a gas leak, caused by water leaking into the gas line. However, gas engineers were unable to find and fix the problem immediately due to the water pipes containing asbestos - a building material which, when the fibres are inhaled, can cause fatal diseases such as mesothelioma and lung cancer.

A spokesman for Anglian Water told The Comet that the water pipes are made up of five per cent asbestos and 95 per cent cement, and that the asbestos does not cause harm to people drinking water which has passed through the pipes.

Mr Mackin said: “I don’t think the water flooded into any of the houses, but it flooded several garages. The block paving was blown up on one driveway, and one of the houses was full of gas and they had to evacuate it.”

He said water leaks in Kingsmede have been “an ongoing problem for a while”.

Mr Teer added: “It’s the age of the pipes that’s causing the problem. They need to replace the main.”

The Anglian Water spokesman said: “We are very sorry for the ongoing disruption to residents of Kingsmede in Shefford.

“The water mains serving the road have burst a number of times in recent months and this is clearly causing a great deal of inconvenience and annoyance.

“We are working to find a solution. In the meantime, problems in the area are being responded to as a matter of urgency to minimise any impact on our customers.”