A garage boss says his firm’s reputation has been damaged due to a water leak saga that’s been going on for 19 months.

Luke Stephens, who runs A2 Tyre Supplies, says he’s unfairly getting the blame for the issue, which has turned the pavement outside his business into a “dangerous joke”.

On one occasion a customer complained they had slipped on a build-up of algae, leaving them in “excruciating pain” while the pram carrying their newborn son rolled towards the road.

The leak started outside the garage, in Halfway on the Isle of Sheppey, in February 2023 and in the 19 months since, has caused the pavement to degrade.

During the winter months, Mr Stephens took it upon himself to stand outside his business, in Queenborough Road, to warn people when the water turned to ice, making the path particularly dangerous to navigate.

But the 45-year-old explained frustrated customers were mistakenly blaming his firm for not doing anything about it, despite the responsibility lying elsewhere.

In one complaint sent to A2 Tyres on September 2, which has been seen by KentOnline, a customer said they had slipped on algae build-up and lost control of the pram they had been pushing.

Inside the buggy was their newborn son and the customer added that if it was not for their partner, they would have ended up in the middle of the road.

The customer added: “I was stuck on the floor with some excruciating ankle pain. I do not see this as a safe practice from A2 Tyre Supplies and request that this issue be resolved before someone is seriously injured.”

Luke said this sort of complaint was “upsetting” and that he “wholeheartedly” agreed that the pavement is a “dangerous joke”.

He added: “While there was no claim mentioned the last thing we want is to end up in court fighting a court claim when we have tried to get something done about this.

“We pride ourselves on our customer service and reputation so having customers perceiving we are doing something wrong is upsetting.

“We have tried to do lots about the leak but have got nowhere.

“The responsibility of the upkeep of the pavement is not ours, it’s Kent County Council (KCC) and they have repaved parts of it but because of the water and cars constantly driving over it breaks apart pretty quickly.”

He has made numerous complaints to Southern Water which sent workers down four times to test the water.

However, on each occasion, the dad of one was told that it was groundwater so the engineers could do nothing about it.

When approached by KentOnline on Friday (September 13), Southern Water said that the issue is not a pipe but water draining down from Southdown Reservoir which is leaking.

The company said its teams are investigating.

But Mr Stephens says tests of the water, including by KCC, confirmed the presence of chlorine, which suggested it was coming from a freshwater source.

A Southern Water spokesman said: “We’re sorry for the impact this is causing and are working hard to resolve this as soon as possible.”

A KCC spokeswoman said: “The water leak on Queenborough Road in Sheppey is the responsibility of the utility company to fix.

“In the meantime, KCC has carried out a temporary repair to keep the highway safe, and the drain channel will be renewed, and footway repatched within the coming month.”