A burst water pipe that leaked thousands of gallons of water for a month has finally been fixed, thanks to the efforts of a local doctor.

Dr Roaid Khan, 33, walks down Boundary Lane, East Ham, daily on his way to work at Newham General Hospital and after noticing a large amount of water going down the drain, reported the problem to Thames Water on December 8.

A burst pipe at the top of the road, near to its junction with Lonsdale Avenue, was responsible for the deluge, which also affected a number of homes and a Premier mini market.

But despite the amount of water leaking the problem was only fixed at the beginning of the month.

“It was just such a waste of water,” said Dr Khan. “I’m glad the problem has now been sorted, but it was just crazy how much was going down the drain.

“It was like six or seven taps being left on 24 hours a day for more than a month.”

With storms affecting much of southern England in recent weeks, coinciding with the holiday period, the resources of many utility companies have been stretched.

A spokesman for Thames Water said: “Although we would have liked to have carried out the repair sooner, we fix about 1,000 leaks each week and so have to prioritise which ones we attend to first. We’re sorry for any inconvenience the problem caused and are pleased to say that the work was done on Saturday, January 4.”