Oxfordshire MP demands immediate action from Thames Water over sewage leaks
Residents are repeatedly reporting raw sewage overflowing onto their streets from manhole covers
A local MP is demanding immediate action from Thames Water over ongoing sewage overflow.
Freddie van Mierlo, MP for Henley and Thame, says residents in his constituency regularly report being forced to wade through dirty water with toilet paper on the street.
Mr van Mierlo has written to Thames Water demanding urgent action in response to the ongoing sewage overflow and tankering issues affecting the Berrick Salome Parish.
"Thames Water must stop offering temporary fixes"
In a letter sent to the company, he expressed his deep dissatisfaction with the continued lack of response to the concerns of local residents.
Residents are repeatedly reporting raw sewage overflowing from manhole covers, spilling across local roads, and contaminating nearby watercourses.
It comes at a time when customers bills are set to rise by over 30-percent next month, meaning the average household will pay £639 per year.
Mr van Mierlo says, “these incidents occur each time it rains and have become a distressing and regular occurrence for residents”.
The local MP has called for an immediate review of the situation and demanded an urgent response to the questions raised.
Mr van Mierlo said: “The residents of Berrick Salome have been enduring this serious issue for far too long. Thames Water must stop offering temporary fixes and provide a long-term solution to protect the environment and the health of the local community. I will continue to hold them to account until they take meaningful action.”
He added: “I look forward to a prompt and comprehensive response from Thames Water on this critical issue.”
“We are committed to seeing waterways thrive"
Thames Water say they will provide a detailed response to his letter by 25 March, and that they have engaged with Mr van Mierlo.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We know how much people enjoy and appreciate rivers, which is why over the next five years we will deliver a record amount of investment to address our ageing infrastructure.
“This is an enormous undertaking; we are responsible for the oldest and most complex infrastructure of any company in the sector.
“We continue to execute our plans to upgrade over 250 of our sites across the region to increase treatment capacity and lower the number of storm discharges.”
They added: “We are committed to seeing waterways thrive, but we can’t do it alone. Farming, industry, road runoff, wildlife and increasingly extreme weather also play a role in river health. While all storm discharges are unacceptable, the sewage system was historically designed to prevent sewage backing up into people’s homes. Transparency is at the heart of what we do, and we were the first water company to publish a real time data map on our website, before it became legal requirement to do so.”
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