Homemade sign pokes fun at persistent leak in Netherfield

A sign poking fun at the length of time taken to repair a persistent water leak has been making residents of a Nottinghamshire town smile since it appeared suddenly overnight “like a Banksy”.

The water main in Station Road, Netherfield has sprung a leak a number of times since April 2024 and was finally repaired on 15 July.

A mystery joker then put up a homemade sign to commemorate the leak, which reads: “Ye Old Down the Drain Spring. Est 2024.”

Pip Algar, who runs a bookshop opposite the sign, said it showed that someone who lived nearby “has got a great sense of humour”.

“I like the fact it appeared randomly like a Banksy work does,” he said.

“Looking out my window from time to time lots of people seem to stop and read it and take note of it and have a chuckle.”

He added that no one he has spoken to has confessed to placing the sign there, or admitted knowing who made it.

Jay Mitchell, who is also from Netherfield, said the anonymous sign-maker reflected a “British kind of attitude” in poking fun at a problem.

She said: “When I first saw [the sign] I just assumed somebody had left some rubbish out to be picked up, but now I’ve looked at it, it’s really nicely made.

“It’s nice that somebody’s seen it as a light-hearted thing rather than just getting grumpy about it.”

Another resident, Kevin Hatton, said the leak had become a familiar sight in Netherfield before it was repaired.

“We’re always all over the place on the scooters, me and my lass, and it’s always leaking, it’s a standing joke, we’re always paddling through it.”

A spokesperson for Severn Trent said its teams had tried to fix several leaks in Station Road since the problem was first reported in 2024, but there had been “a number of separate complex issues” at a cluster of water meter boundary boxes.

The spokesperson added: “Due to their [the boundary boxes’] close proximity with one another, and the fact they’re within 200 metres of a railway line, we had to take more time to plan and implement the fix.

“[This] has led to us being at Station Road for a longer period of time.

“We completed our work there on 15 July and would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused by the works.”