Sign of the times... village flooded with waste sends message to Thames Water
SICKENED villagers have accused Thames Water of foul play on a mock hazard road sign where they must wade through faeces, sanitary products and even underwear.
The “Lambourn Sh*t Show” board has been planted in the pretty Berkshire neighbourhood where locals say the problem started in December. A drain in Newbury Street began to overflow – before spilling out into other areas of the village.
Children have to walk through the stinking water to get to school while passing cars churn up the filth, which has been killing plants and wildlife.
Fears have been raised that the toxic waste is contaminating the River Lambourn, the protected chalk stream featured in The Great British Bake Off.
Lambourn sits within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is downstream to where the Channel 4 show is filmed.
Disgusting
A resident who wished to remain unnamed said: “You can see human faeces and sanitary products flowing down the road and into the river constantly.
“Large pot holes have formed in the road and Thames Water appear to have no motivation to find a solution.
“The village requires major investment from those responsible for dealing with this but this will not happen due to the financial state of those companies and agencies.”
Another added: “It’s not just raw sewage – I know it’s disgusting to even think about but there’s condoms and tampons in the road.
“Our children have to wade through it all to get to school and the smell is
abominable. We shouldn’t have to live like this.” Local Tory MP Laura Farris has written to the Environment Agency saying: “It is in the water and poisoning it, week after week.The casual attitude to such a precious waterway is deplorable.”
Thames Water said water quality tests had shown “minimal impact” to the environment.
A spokesman added: “We’re sorry that customers have been affected as our sewers have become overloaded by floodwaters in the River Lambourn
area. The excessively heavy rain that the region has experienced means the groundwater and river levels remain very high and the ground is saturated.
“A significant amount of this water is entering the local sewer system and causing flooding from manholes. We are working hard to keep sewers flowing and to prevent further flooding.”
“We’re carrying out daily clean-ups where the manholes have been overflowing and we’re using tankers in Upper Lambourn 24 hours a day to help manage excess flows.”