A HOMEOWNER has described a decision to put water meters from houses on another road outside his home as 'strange'.

Bill Lewis, of The Freelands in Kempsey has seen water meters from four houses on Florence Close put on his road.

Mr Lewis was confused why the meters were not placed on Florence Close rather than a road around 100 yards away.

He said: "It is strange that the meters are not outside of their homes.

"It would not happen with electricity or gas so why does it happen with water meters.

"The Freelands is a private road that is a dead end and this is going to increase the number of people coming onto the road, the meters are also low down so will be covered in soil.

"I have no problems with them using the same pipes, but surely they should have their meters outside their homes.

"I wonder if they just made a mistake as it seems a bit ridiculous.

"People from Florence Close have to walk probably nearly a quarter of a mile to go to check their water meters.

"I sent Severn Trent a letter about 3 weeks ago but they did not reply and so I phoned up on Monday.

"They said only people from Severn Trent would need to go and see the meter, but I would have thought residents would want to check their meters."

A spokesman for Severn Trent refuted Mr Lewis's claim that it was nearly a quarter of a mile, instead saying it was around 100 yards from the homes.

She also said that since there were no pipes on Florence Close, it makes a lot more sense to put the water meters on The Freelands.

She said: "It is a lot more sensible to use the pipes on The Freelands than anywhere else.

"There are no pipes on Florence Close, and to connect them to the pipes on the A48 would take a lot of pipes and a lot of money.

"The pipes on The Freelands are by far the nearest and are the most sensible and cheapest.

"We have a responsibility to keep costs down for our customers."