Tom Brake Takes Constituents' Complaints to the Top

12.00.00am GMT Wed 28th Jan 2004

Tom Brake held a top level meeting in Parliament yesterday with Thames Water's Managing Director to press home constituents' complaints over sewage floods in Carshalton.

Flooding has repeatedly occurred in local residents' gardens after the failure of a local pumping station.

Tom Brake said,

"At long last I have secured Thames' agreement for a thorough investigation. Residents were no longer satisfied with Thames' assurances that each separate incident was a 'one-off'. What residents want now is a permanent solution with guarantees that this flooding will not re-occur."

Thames Water has set up a hydraulics study in the Carshalton area to identify whether flooding occurred as a result of a build-up of debris or a more serious infrastructure weakness. The study is likely to last six months.

Thames Water have said that their local managers will be keeping local residents informed about the study.