I live in a spectacular national park, but my life has been destroyed after a ‘TSUNAMI’ erupted just metres from my 500-year-old cottage

A PENSIONER living in a beautiful national park has criticised a water company after a ‘tsunami’ hit his home.

John McDowell has lived in the village of Liverton in Newton Abbot, part of Dartmoor National Park, with his wife Elaine for 23 years after moving from London.

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About 18 months ago, a leak developed in the path just 100 yards from their historic farmhouse, and a few weeks ago a main pipe burst, causing flooding.

Former British Airways engineer John, 67, says South West Water (SWW) originally claimed the leak was a “natural source”.

He told The Sun: “About 10 weeks ago their natural river turned into a natural tsunami because the main pipe burst. It was one of those leaks that was there all the time.”

While workers worked to plug the burst pipe, the leak continued and water continued to flow down the hill.

John has reported the problem several times, as has his wife and neighborsbut believes that SWW “doesn’t care”.

He said he is concerned that the river will freeze over once winter sets in, which will pose a hazard as gritters can only goal the main roads and not the more remote routes such as the affected lane.

He said the steep road – the only way for many residents to get there and back – is already “like a toboggan run” in colder weather.

“If I hit the brakes and I slide down the hill and I hit a car or knock someone over, it’s a domino effect,” he explains.

“It can’t be rocket science to fix a leak. After all, we put a man on the moon.”

The grandfather of four said the “funny thing” was that the ordeal coincided with SWW’s ‘Save Every Drop’ campaign, which encourages people and businesses to save water to help the environment.

They have sent out leaflets with the water bills explaining how homeowners can reduce their water usage so that the water level in the reservoirs can rise.

But he estimates that “thousands of gallons” of water have been wasted in recent months due to the leak.

“If every drop counts, you’re definitely losing a liter every minute,” he said.

“There was a movie many years ago with Clint Eastwood, The Outlaw Josey Wales. He said, ‘Don’t give me the piss and tell me it’s raining.'”

He continued: “You call up and it’s like you’re speaking Chinese. Your pipe is still leaking and you say I need to fix my tap rings and do my bit for the planet, which I’m already doing – but what do they do?

“I have a bump on my forehead and I hit my head against the wall. No one listens.”

John said that the mechanics who fixed the leak in the pipe even left all the signs and pylons on the road, which he cleared away himself.

Although the flooding did not affect his home because the hill slopes away from it, he explained: “You can see on the roads that the water has been there for 18 months and the road is collapsing.

“But of course nobody wants to own it.

“The asphalt repairs look like they were done by a 3 year old. They couldn’t even bring a broom to sweep up.”

He added that once there is frost, “everything clears up again”.

It is still unclear whether SWW will take responsibility for the current leak.

John said, “I’m sure you’d think in this day and age that they would have some kind of sniffer or litmus test where they could say, oh yeah, this has to be ours.”

He continued: “We live in a beautiful part of the world.

“I will cherish every blade of grass that comes from London.

“Even 23 years later, I still say how lucky we are to live there, and I will do everything I can to keep it.

“But when you have big authorities who just don’t give a damn.

“I’m turning 68 this year, another 10 years and then it’s a mess, but I try to take care of the planet and I have grandchildren.”

A South West Water spokesperson said: “We investigated these claims when they were first reported to us in July last year and found the water came from a natural source and not from our network.

“We repaired a burst water pipe in June of this year, but this had nothing to do with it.”

The Sun has also asked the Dartmoor National Park Authority for comment.

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