A broken water feature in Coventry city centre has been closed for months because parts have to come from Italy.

Workmen for Severn Trent shattered part of the fountain, by the junction of Hertford Street and New Union Street, when they drove a van over it.

The water company - who were working on relining pipes at the time - admitted responsibility.

The accident broke parts underneath the street-level feature, which is currently surrounded by a temporary barrier.

And the fountain has to remain closed as city centre bosses wait for new parts to arrive from Italy.

Hilary Hopker, for the city centre management company, CV One, said: "Slats underneath the fountain have to be replaced. They come from Italy and we are waiting for them to come from there before being repaired. We don't know when that will be.

"Severn Trent has admitted responsibility. Our intention is to see if it is going to pay for the repairs and costs."

It is not yet known when the fountain will re-open or how much the repairs will cost.

The street-level fountain - which randomly shoots jets of water from the ground - was installed as part of Coventry City Council's &#xA3;425,000 redevelopment of Bull Yard and Dresden Place.

When it was built in 1999, disabled groups called for a barrier to be put around the fountain, saying it posed a hazard for anyone who was deaf, blind or even suffering from diabetes.

However city chiefs kicked out the idea, saying a barricade was not appropriate as young children enjoyed running in and out of the water.

Caroline Hosie, a spokesman for Severn Trent, said: "We have got contractors working on the water pipes in Coventry city centre and sub-contractors for them caused damage to the fountain.

"We have been working with the city centre company, CV One, who are going to repair the fountain, and the sub-contractors will pay for the damage.

"As they are working on behalf of Severn Trent, we apologise for the damage that they have caused and we will put things right as soon as we can."

* Piped music has returned to the city centre after temporarily being silenced.

A combination of technical problems and the Coventry Jazz Festival led to the music being axed for a short period but it returned yesterday.