IT may not have been Geneva’s 140m high Jet d’Eau, but Bournemouth’s latest ‘water feature’ certainly made an impression.

Rising majestically some 7.5m in the air from a damaged fire hydrant in Exeter Road, just outside the new BH2 leisure complex, the column of potable water garnered its own flock of sightseers with cameras yesterday afternoon.

The striking sight has provoked comparisons with some of the world’s best known cultural landmarks, including the iconic Jet, the Louvre, the Fontana di Tivoli and King Fahd’s Fountain in Saudi Arabia.

Cabbie John ‘Basher’ Brown, 51, witnessed the eruption.

“There were two guys doing this work, they were doing something down a hole,” said Mr Brown, from Charminster.

“Suddenly they jumped back and one went ‘whoa’. One was absolutely soaked.

“It went up in an instant, and it’s been going for an hour-and-a-half. It’s definitely brought a lot of people out.”

Bob Metcalfe, sat in the garden of the Moon in the Square opposite, said: “Fortunately nobody got hurt, it’s a bit of entertainment.

“Even over Christmas I’ve not seen so many smiling faces.”
Visiting the town, 52-year-old Jamie Devaney, from Alton, said Bournemouth Square could use a fountain.

“Its amazing, I’ve got some nice photos,” he said.

“A fountain could be fun, although probably not right there.”

A spokesman for Bournemouth Water said: “We believe that unauthorised third-party use of a fire hydrant on Exeter Road damaged the water main.

“We attended immediately and isolated the escape of water.

“The damaged pipe has been fixed and investigations are on-going.”

The leak was switched off at 3.20pm.

The Jet d’Eau was built in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1886 as a safety valve for a hydraulic power plant, but its power to draw in tourists was soon recognised, and it was moved and given a boost. Its 125th anniversary was celebrated in August.

Fellow Swiss city Lucerne is twinned with Bournemouth.