T&A reader Michael Sugden is considering legal action against Yorkshire Water - claiming the company has made his house unsafe.

Mr Sugden, 41, called in the company in October, 1998, after finding water in the crawl-way under the ground floor of his home in Gomersal.

"I called them out because I didn't know where it was coming from," he said. "They identified it as surface water from a collapsed drain in the road."

Mr Sugden, a service engineer, set about digging a sump hole to collect the water and installing a pump.

"I have worked out I have pumped about 40,000 gallons of water since October, 1998."

Mr Sugden says Yorkshire Water repaired the collapsed drain a year later and asked permission to dig two test holes in his garden to see if it was viable to make a soak-away for the water, to which he agreed. "They knocked a hole in the foundations and pushed a pipe about eight inches in diameter through into the sump," he said.

"I asked them what they were doing because I hadn't given my permission for that and they said my partner had. But that is not true."

He then called in a chartered surveyor who decided the foundations of the house had been weakened because they were not supported at the point the pipe went through them.

"Effectively the house is not safe," said Mr Sugden. "The surveyor said the pipe needed taking out and the foundations shoring up."

He has now passed on all his correspondence to his solicitor and is considering taking action against the company.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman would not comment on whether permission was obtained to put the pipe through the foundations.

He said: "We wrote to Mr Sugden proposing we would take out the pipe, fill the hole and seal it, make good the wall using skilled workmen and waterproof it, and investigate the efficiency of a soak-away drain in the garden.

"We also agreed we are not going to carry out any work until we have heard from his solicitor."

But Mr Sugden added: "I think they are just taking the mickey.

"There is still water under the house but Yorkshire Water say it is purely ground and surface water and it isn't coming from the pipe they repaired. But it is following the same track as the original water from the drain and I am still holding them responsible for it. But they are basically saying it's no longer their responsibility.

"The company wrote to me on March 27 proposing some work but I told them I want a detailed explanation of exactly what they are proposing - and I'm still waiting for that explanation."

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