A NEIGHBOUR dispute has left 19 people without access to running water for almost a month.

Residents in Printshop Lane, Darwen, say one of their neighbours has blocked communal access to the area’s private water supply leaving six homes without water.

The area’s private supply comes from a spring that is located on land at Red Maple Farm belonging to Paul Lomas.

His angry neighbours claim he intentionally cut off the water after a row over access to the ‘communal’ spring.

But Mr Lomas said since changes in the law in 2009 forced him to maintain the spring, his neighbours ‘no longer have any rights to access it’.

The water supply was first disrupted in February when a storm damaged trees and underground pipes, before it was shut off last month.

One resident said: “Mr Lomas said the damage was caused by Storm Doris.

“He said several trees fell down and uprooted and damaged the piping system.

“But instead of telling the residents he stayed quiet, because he did not want people on his land.

Another neighbour said: “It’s been horrendous. In the last three years he decided he wanted money for the water.

“In this day and age to not have access to water is ridiculous.

“We’ve been without water for four weeks, we have no heating or bathing water.

“There are children down here for goodness sake.”

When Blackburn with Darwen Council was made aware of the situation, officers provided bottled water and offered free use of Darwen Leisure Centre for showering.

Another resident said: “I have to carry 80 litres of water upstairs twice a day.

“I go and fill big bottles up at my friend’s house and fill the water tank with them.

“The council have let us use the leisure centre and given us some water as a goodwill gesture.

“But they said because it’s a private water supply they can’t get involved, it’s a civil matter.”

Mr Lomas said the water supply was initially disconnected after the council found E. coli in water samples.

He said: “The supply needed disconnecting because it was just rain water running down the pipes.

“The council took samples earlier this year and found it contained E .coli and wasn’t fit to drink.”

The residents have been in touch with the council about having the supply fixed, but as it is a private water supply they will have to cover the cost of repairs themselves.

Until now, the householders have only been required to pay around £250 per year for the maintenance out the communal septic tank.

Estimated costs of joining the six homes to the mains water supply, situated around 200m from the lane, is around £35,000.

But this idea was rejected because the costs would have to be covered by the residents.

The neighbour said: “We have spoken with the council about having it fixed but it will be expensive.

“It would not cost that much if we had been allowed to maintain it, but Mr Lomas won’t let any of us near it to check the supply.

“The deeds to our properties say we have the right to access and maintain the water supply, he just doesn’t want us going on his land without permission.

“He doesn’t want the council going up there either because they will fence off the spring when they fix it and he will lose access to some of his land.”

Mr Lomas’ water supply has not be affected.

However he said his family were not willing to pay towards the repairs as he set up a new system for his house.

Mr Lomas said: “I don’t care about the money, I just want my privacy.

“I’m very willing to let the council on my land to fix it, but they want to come and fence it off and I’m not willing to let that happen.

“Changes in the law in 2009 say the land owner is responsible for the quality, quantity and sufficiency of the water supply.

“Since the law changed the other residents no longer have any written rights to the water.”

Martin Eden, director of environment at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “The council was contacted by residents about this issue and as a short term solution we have provided bottled water and offered the use of Darwen Leisure Centre for showering.

“We are discussing options with them including connecting their properties up to the main water supply.”

A spokesman from United Utilities said: “As of yet we have not been contacted by Blackburn with Darwen Council directly.

“If there is a problem with a private water supply it will go through the council and possibly environmental health before it comes to us.

“We are only involved with converting private water supplies into mains supplies.”