West Hampstead residents will have to wait more than ten years for an end to constant leaks after Thames Water announced they would replace all pipes in the area by 2025.

The works are part of the firm’s £1.6billion plan to replace pipes in priority areas where they are prone to leakage.

Engineers will first replace pipes in West End Lane and Finchley Road, with works starting in 2015 and continuing until 2020.

The second phase of the works will then be between 2020 and 2025, with all pipes in West Hampstead to be replaced by 2025.

The project comes after years of leaks and variable water pressure in West Hampstead and Finchley Road. Last week, the Ham&High reported there had been more than 200 water leaks in the area since December alone.

West Hampstead councillor Keith Moffitt, who chaired a meeting on the issue at Hampstead Synagogue in Dennington Park Road on Tuesday, said: “The problem is with the timescale. People in the room said it was unsatisfactory that they are going to be living with water leaks and low pressure for such a long time.”

Despite disgruntled murmurs, the audience of about 60 residents was largely satisfied with the project to gradually replace existing pipes with plastic ones, which have a 50 to 100-year lifespan.

However, the two Thames Water representatives revealed that the company has not factored the London Plan, the capital’s development strategy, into their scheme.

The plan will see a minimum of 800 homes built in West Hampstead before 2031.