WATER works which closed a Wheatley road for almost three weeks without the firm telling anybody first have now come to an end.

But residents have continued to blast the handling of the project.

Ladder Hill was closed on September 26 for sewage repair works and the first local residents knew of it was when they returned home from work, with no option but to turn around and face a three-mile diversion.

Liz Wickens, who lives right outside where the work took place, said although she was pleased the work had been completed the water firm's customer service had been less than impressive.

She said: "With Thames Water I haven’t changed my opinion because they haven’t contacted us at any point, that is the thing we were all frustrated about, the lack of notification.

"The diversion signs didn’t make sense which has been nice for us living here because it has been very quiet.

"The road workers at the site have been lovely, we have been feeding them cakes and they have done the work quickly and efficiently.

"The problem is we felt that was all good but it would have been nice to have had something from Thames Water, I had to ring them first, they didn’t ring me."

She added: "A lot of people use this road as a cut-through and it is a shame because people have avoided it for the last few weeks and if they carried on avoiding it that would be great."

When the water works first started several residents noted that despite the poor communication closing the road had been something of a double-edged sword as it blocked off the potential for rat-running.

Ladder Hill resident and marketing advisor Emily Trump, aged 36, said while the roadworks were ongoing: "I think it's excellent.

"It's stopping the rat runners. I am just going to really miss it when the road re-opens.

"We have lived here for 10 years and the road has got worse and worse."

Another resident Michelle Gregory, aged 64, said: "The problem is its such a busy road. People use it as a through road all the time."

Thames Water had blamed 'human error' on the lack of communication with residents and were forced to apologise after it was revealed letters which should have been sent out to residents 12 weeks in advance were not.

With the works now finished three days ahead of schedule spokesperson Becky Trotman said: "This was a complicated job which involved us hand digging through some tough concrete to get to the sewer pipe.

"But we're pleased we finished ahead of schedule to reduce disruption to residents."