Residents left stranded by burst water main in Hemel Hempstead

That is the take of a disabled man from Long Chaulden, who was left stranded by a burst water main.

The incident meant that Arriva bus services were cancelled, and resulted in him waiting for an hour at the bus stop on Tuesday morning with no idea that the buses - which are scheduled to run every 15 minutes - had been redirected.

Ken Discipline, who is also retired, said that either the county council or water bosses should have put signage up to let residents know what was happening.

He said: “We already only get four buses an hour, and sometimes three of them can be cancelled or there will be a minibus which only holds about 12 people so by the time it gets to us there’s no room to board.

“I am retired, and I have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and arthritis, which means that I rely on the buses and that I have trouble walking and standing. The last thing I need is to stand for an hour at the bus stop only to find there’s no bus coming.”

Although the closure was classed as an emergency Mr Discipline says the main burst almost two weeks earlier.

The road was re-opened to buses on Friday morning.

Mr Discipline added: “Everybody is blaming each other - and it’s not good enough.

“It’s two weeks since the main burst, and it would have been easy for somebody to put up notices in the bus stop say that works would be happening.”