'Pointless' to repair flood-hit homes - residents

An MP has called on Yorkshire Water to "properly invest in upgrading infrastructure" after homes in Rotherham flooded twice in an 18-month period.

Residents in the Kiveton Park and Wales area said repairing damage caused by repeated water issues felt "pointless" as the water main on Station Road might burst again.

Rother Valley MP Jake Richards said it was "disgraceful that this keeps happening", urging the water company to prevent further incidents.

Yorkshire Water said it would replace 15 miles (24km) of pipework by March 2026 covering the three mains that served the area.

Jane and Andrew, neighbours on Stoney Bank Drive, said their homes were just back to normal from a flood in summer 2023 when it happened again.

Richards said: "It is disgraceful that this keeps happening.

"Yorkshire Water must properly invest in upgrading infrastructure.

"I am furious this appears to be a monthly occurrence."

Andrew said his home was a "disaster zone" after the first flood.

He said Yorkshire Water engineers had told residents the main, from the 1940s, was likely to burst again.

"You just wonder if there's any point [repairing the damage] again," he said.

"Just for it all to get flooded again and be in the same situation."

Jane said the water "came with so much force so quickly, within 20 minutes there was a foot of water. It was a torrent".

She said she was having to use her conservatory as a sitting room.

"It's soul-destroying," Jane said.

"It's frightening, we can't leave the house without fear of flooding."

Meanwhile, Lauren Barber said nearby Wales Primary School had closed because the water was off.

"It happens so often and causes so much disruption," she said.

"It’s awful, and it’s been happening for years. All they do is keep building more and more houses and not updating the pipes they have in."

Yorkshire Water said it had met with Richards, local councillors and residents to discuss their concerns and the company's upcoming pipe replacement work.

A spokesperson said: "We are currently working with the council highways department and other organisations who have infrastructure under the roads and footways to input into our detailed planning and coordination for this work.

“We also shared our interim measures put in place to prevent bursts such as calm networking and pressure management.

"Our specialist management team will also fit transient loggers to increase the level of monitoring in this area to help us prevent bursts in the future.

“Following feedback from customers that have been impacted in this area, we have set up a single point of contact team to improve communication and transparency as well as a specialist aftercare team to support following a burst water main event, if required."

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