Confusion continues to surround the clean-up of sewage contamination in the Rive Ditch on Wheatsheaf Common.

Thames Water confirmed that sewage spilled into the Rive Ditch on 12 March, but the company’s response to the incident has been roundly criticised by Liberal Democrat councillor for Horsell, Melisa Kuipers.

“Communication from Thames Water has been appalling, and I’ve had to push them every day to get updates,” Ms Kuipers said. “No warning signs have been put up in the area by Thames Water.

“I was made aware of the problem on 18 March and since then have repeatedly asked Thames Water to put up signs.

“Horsell Common Preservation Society (HCPS) own the land, but the responsibility lies with Thames Water; however, HCPS have been left to manage the situation – they put up signs.

“Thames Water gave a statement that the issue was resolved on 16 March, but it’s ridiculous for them to suggest this. At no point have they said to me the issue was resolved – far from it. There is sewage in the watercourse, and they haven’t cleaned that up.”

On 26 March, Ms Kuipers was told by Thames Water that they expected to be on site “for the final time today to complete operational activities”.

When pressed by Ms Kuipers to confirm that they would remove the sewage pollution from the Rive Ditch and ensure that the area is safe for the public, Thames Water replied: “We have scheduled a site visit for Monday morning [31 March] with our technical specialists to assess the requirements for the safe removal of wastewater from the Rive Ditch.

“Provisionally, we anticipate this will involve the use of a large specialist vehicle with suction capability to extract the wastewater. Due to the challenging site access, we may need to position the vehicle on a nearby road and apply for a temporary lane closure. These details will be confirmed at the site meeting.”

Although at the time of going to press the News & Mail had been unable to establish the outcome of the site meeting, a Thames Water spokesperson said: “We responded to reports of a pollution by Horsell Common on Wednesday 12 March.

“Our investigations found this was caused by a blockage of roots, which had resulted in damage to the foul water sewer, allowing the wastewater to enter the surface water pipes. Our teams cleared the blockage and repaired the foul water and surface water pipes on Sunday 16 March, during which time a tanker was in place to remove wastewater.

“We have and will continue to take samples of water which have shown the pollution has stopped and we are also arranging to remove pollutants from the ditch. As a precaution, we will conduct additional inspections to the foul water sewer and have placed it on a planned maintenance programme to be checked annually.

“We will continue to communicate our progress with customers, the Environment Agency and stakeholders and we are sorry for any inconvenience caused.”

WILL FORSTER Page 14

ANN TILBURY Page 20