Loose noisy manhole leaves Havant man fuming and ‘unable to sleep for months’

A TIRED council worker claimed his life was turned into a living hell after a broken manhole left him unable to sleep at night.
Robert Boniface on New Road, Havant next to the troubling manhole
Picture: Habibur RahmanRobert Boniface on New Road, Havant next to the troubling manhole
Picture: Habibur Rahman
Robert Boniface on New Road, Havant next to the troubling manhole Picture: Habibur Rahman

Robert Boniface lashed out at Southern Water for taking three months to fix the dodgy drainage entrance opposite his home in New Road, Havant.

The exhausted 63-year-old Portsmouth City Council employee said the offending metal cover had become loose and made a deafening clang everytime a car drove over it.

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The noise was so loud it regularly used to wake Mr Boniface up at all hours of the night, leaving him ‘at the end of his tether’.

Robert Boniface on New Road, Havant next to the troubling manhole
Picture: Habibur RahmanRobert Boniface on New Road, Havant next to the troubling manhole
Picture: Habibur Rahman
Robert Boniface on New Road, Havant next to the troubling manhole Picture: Habibur Rahman

He said: ‘I have come to the end of my tether. It’s been an absolute nightmare.

‘Every time a car drove over the manhole there was this huge, loud “crack”. It was so loud I could hear if from Bedhampton railway station which is a good three minutes’ walk away.

‘And it would get so much worse in the evening when cars were diverted from the A27. You’d get 40 or 50 cars an hour going over it at its busiest. It’s hell.

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‘I’ve pretty much been living on three or four hours’ sleep a night.

‘It’s been driving me around the bend because it has been keeping me awake at night.’

Mr Boniface, who is recovering from a knee operation and is forced to sleep downstairs, said he first reported the dodgy drain at the beginning of January.

However, he was repeatedly force the chase up the Southern to try and get an engineer out to fix it.

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The manhole was eventually repaired after Mr Boniface’s continued pleading. But the 63-year-old said it should have been dealt with sooner.

‘Southern Water never seemed to want to do anything about it,’ he said. ‘They’ve just constantly been fobbing me off since I reported it.

‘They have just made excuse after excuse.

‘They say they have got leaks all over Portsmouth that they have to deal with. I appreciate that but something should have been done sooner about the drain because it has been a nightmare.

‘I had  been living on three or four hours’ sleep a night, waking up at all hours of the evening. It was a joke.’

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The drain, and another nearby, was eventually fixed on March 26.

Southern Water has since apologised for the situation.

A spokesman said: ‘We're very sorry to this customer for the noise and disruption caused by a loose manhole cover in New Road, Havant - and for the delay in repairing it.

‘Unfortunately, resources were needed for other emergency work in this area. We apologise again to this customer, thank him for raising this and being patient with us.’