South Staffs Water and sister company Cambridge Water have joined the membership organisation Linesearch before u dig (LSBUD) to help further protect assets in their networks.

LSBUD is a service that developers and anyone involved in services likely to break ground can use to check their works against utility asset maps.

Over 60% of Great Britain’s utility infrastructure is protected by LSBUD. This includes hundreds of thousands of kilometres of underground and overhead pipes and cables in electricity, gas, high-pressure fuel, water and fibre optic networks.

Over 3.9 million searches are conducted by LSBUD users each year, helping to increase resilience and safety and reduce the risk of strikes on utility assets.

The water companies said that by joining LSBUD, they can work collaboratively with third parties carrying out work near their assets so that any digs are carried out safely.

Head of Transformation and Change for Cambridge Water and South Staffs Water, Stu Whitfield commented:

"Moving our plan provision across to LSBUD will provide our customers with a robust, reliable, and trusted method of accessing our plans, at the same time as they search for gas and electricity plans, along with a host of other asset owners. This will ensure that people working around our assets are well informed of their location before they start work, making our pipes and people safer than ever before.”