HERTFORDSHIRE, BEDFORDSHIRE & CAMBRIDGESHIRE
Emergency Plumber in Bishop’s Stortford
A split pipe in a Hockerill villa at midnight and a dripping tap in Thorley are different calls. Ring 01462 506 374, a person answers at any hour, and you hear honestly which one needs an engineer tonight.
Tonight or first thing tomorrow
Two questions settle most night calls: can the water be stopped, and is it reaching anything electrical.
Tonight: water still running after the stopcock is closed
Tonight: a ceiling bulging or dripping near a light fitting
Tonight: a leaking hot water cylinder you cannot isolate
Tonight: no water at all while the neighbours have a normal supply
Morning: a leak that stopped once its isolation valve was turned
Morning: a toilet that keeps refilling or a tap that will not shut
Somewhere in between? Describe it and we will say honestly whether a night call-out is worth paying for.
Get a fixed price before we start
Call and talk to an engineer, or send us the details and we will come back to you with a price.
What to do while you wait
Close the stopcock
Turn the internal stopcock clockwise until it stops, using steady hand pressure. An old brass valve that has not moved for years can shear if you lean on it with a wrench.
Use the nearest isolation valve
Toilets, washing machines and many taps have a small slotted valve on the feed. A quarter turn with a screwdriver, so the slot lies across the pipe, stops that one outlet and leaves the rest of the house running.
Make the electrics safe
If water is reaching sockets, a ceiling rose or the consumer unit, switch off at the consumer unit only if you can reach it from a dry floor with dry hands. If you cannot, keep everyone out of that room and tell us. Then open the downstairs cold taps to drain the pipes above.
Where to look for the stopcock in Stortford homes
The conservation area roughly follows the town as it stood between 1874 and 1894, and mains water reached many of its buildings long after they were built. Try the front wall where the supply enters, then under the stairs, then behind the kitchen plinth.
In the Victorian and Edwardian houses of the New Town and Hockerill, including Hadham Road, Maze Green Road, Stansted Road and Dunmow Road, start under the kitchen sink or at the top of the cellar steps. Extensions often added their own valves, and not all of them still close.
The detached homes of the Hockerill Park Estate, around Crescent Road, Avenue Road and Gilbey Avenue, sit back on long plots, so the outside stop tap may be a good walk from the front door. Find it in daylight, before you need it.
Pipes and cylinders that fail first
Some older houses on the low ground near the Stort have cellars, and damp is hard on copper joints, pump unions and cylinder connections. If your boiler or cylinder sits at the lowest point of the house, say so when you ring.
Affinity Water publishes 345 mg/l for the town, which is very hard. Float valves furred with scale stick open until the overflow runs, and a seized isolation valve means a small leak can only be stopped at the main.
When the whole street loses pressure
Weak or no water is not always a fault inside your home. In July 2026 Affinity Water reported low pressure across CM23 during a long hot spell and a pumping station fault.
So before paying for a night visit, ask a neighbour. If their taps are weak too, the fault sits with the supplier, not your pipes.
Answered by a person, day or night
A genuine 24 hour line, the charges explained before anyone sets off, and the common parts on the van.
What we deal with at night
Burst and split pipes, including frozen runs in lofts and garages
Water coming through a ceiling from a bath, shower or tank
No water to the house, or to one floor only
Cisterns and cold tanks overflowing through a stuck float valve
Hot water cylinders leaking at a joint or valve
Toilets and drains blocked and backing up inside
Central heating or shower pumps that have failed
Drains are cleared with high pressure jetting from the van. Since 2011 most shared drains beyond the boundary belong to the sewerage company, and if a blockage is theirs we say so.
How out of hours charging works
Monday to Friday between 8am and 5pm there is no call-out fee. Plumbing is £140 + VAT for the first hour (£168 including VAT), then £60 + VAT per half hour, and the first hour is the minimum charge.
Evenings, nights and weekends, every attendance carries a call-out of £50 + VAT (£60 including VAT) on top of the hourly rate, and the out of hours plumbing rate is £198 + VAT for the first hour on weekday evenings until 8pm and weekends from 8am to 8pm, or £250 + VAT overnight from 8pm to 8am. If the fault is on the boiler, gas work is £225 + VAT for the first hour, then £75 + VAT per half hour.
Half the first hour is paid up front. If the job turns out bigger, the engineer stops and gives you a price before going further. See our pricing page.
After the water is off
On the phone you are asked where the water is coming from, whether it has stopped and how old the house is, since a cellar in Hockerill and a new build at Stortford Fields need different parts.
Afterwards the engineer explains what failed and can write it down for your insurer. If water appears with no obvious source, do not lift boards on a guess, as a leak can be traced first. Making good is priced separately.
A smell of gas
Do not ring a plumber first. Get everyone out, leave light switches and plugs alone, and call the National Gas Emergency Service on 0800 111 999.
Once they have made the supply safe, our Gas Safe engineers (registration 956889) can find and repair the fault.
★★★★★
Rated 4.9 on Google by the people we work for
Why choose Vantage
Rated 4.9 on Google from more than 700 reviews across Google, Checkatrade and Trustatrader. Qualified, accredited engineers, a fixed price before any work begins and a labour guarantee on every job, from an established local company with an office team you can actually reach. No job too small.
Gas Safe registered
Company registration 956889. Every gas engineer carries their own Gas Safe ID card, and you can ask to see it.
Refcom F-Gas certified
REF1024550. Legally required for air conditioning installation and servicing, and we hold it.
CHAS Elite accredited
Veriforce CHAS assessed for health and safety, which is why commercial clients and landlords use us.
City & Guilds and BPEC qualified
Qualified, insured engineers on every job. No subcontracted strangers.
700+ reviews, 4.9 on Google
Across Google, Checkatrade and Trustatrader. Read them before you book.
Labour guarantee on every job
12 months on repairs, installations and everything else. Two years on a full bathroom refit. If anything we did develops a fault, we come back and put it right.
Fixed price before we start
The price is agreed with you before any work begins. No hidden extras on the invoice.
24/7, answered by a person
The emergency line is answered every day of the year by someone who can send an engineer, not a call centre.
Fully stocked vans
Five vans carrying the parts that fail most often, so most jobs are fixed on the first visit.
An office team behind every job
An established local business with multiple engineers and a dedicated office team to keep you informed.
Vaillant myREWARDS and Ideal Max accredited
Accredited installer status means extended manufacturer warranties on the boilers we fit.
Emergency response within the hour
Our average response to an emergency call is under an hour across Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
Trusted & Accredited Professionals
Frequently asked questions
What happens when I ring in the middle of the night?
A person answers, helps you stop the water, then gives you the call-out, the rate and the deposit before anyone leaves.
Can a leak in the cellar wait until morning?
If the water has stopped, usually yes. If it is still running, or near the boiler or electrics, ring straight away.
Who is responsible for the long supply pipe up my front garden?
The owner, from the boundary stop tap into the house. Homes built before 1970 may still have a lead supply pipe, and we point it out if we see one.
Do you cover the Essex side of CM23?
Yes, including Farnham, Manuden, Berden and Birchanger in Uttlesford.
Is a blocked toilet an out of hours job?
Only if it is your only toilet or sewage is coming back up inside. Otherwise a weekday visit avoids the call-out fee.
What does a weekend call cost?
A call-out of £50 + VAT (£60 including VAT) for each attendance, plus the out of hours rate, which we quote on the phone before setting off.
Is there a call-out fee on a weekday afternoon?
No. Between 8am and 5pm on weekdays there is no call-out, just the hourly rate.
How do I stop a cistern that keeps overflowing?
Give the slotted valve on its feed a quarter turn, then leave it for a weekday visit with no call-out fee.
Areas we cover around Bishop’s Stortford
Bishop’s Stortford sits in CM22 and CM23, and we cover both, including Thorley, Spellbrook, Farnham, Manuden, Berden and Birchanger. Part of CM23 crosses into Uttlesford in Essex, and the rates are the same on either side of the county line.
We also attend Sawbridgeworth, Braughing, Little Hadham, Much Hadham, Stansted Mountfitchet, Hatfield Heath, Little Hallingbury, Great Hallingbury and Takeley. For a heating breakdown, see boiler repair in Bishop’s Stortford.
A person answers day and night
Ring 01462 506 374 from anywhere in CM22 or CM23. We help you stop the water first, then tell you what a visit costs before anyone sets off.
Related services
Repairs, leaks and installations
Found without the digging
Kitchen, bathroom and outside
Cleared the same day
All makes, Gas Safe engineers
Every rate, published