‘We would rather pollute than internally flood properties’ - Thames Water tells sewage-hit Stanford Dingley

“We would rather pollute than internally flood properties.” That is what Thames Water has told residents of sewage-hit Stanford Dingley.

Thames Water, facing questions from the council and the public in West Berkshire, admitted it struggles to "solve the problem of Stanford Dingley".

Almost every winter residents suffer from raw sewage in the street – the council scrutiny committee heard.

“They [villagers] have to man pumps to keep sewage at bay,” said Christopher Read (Lib Dem, Bucklebury).

“Time and money has been wasted on band aids solutions which are not working.

"Sewage finds its way into the Pang. Thames Water is fobbing us off, still with no meaningful solution.”

He said it was only a matter of time before someone becomes seriously ill.

“The mental impact cannot be underestimated,” he added. “Will something effective be done?”

Thames Water insisted it "had not forgotten" Stanford Dingley.

“It is a special area,” said one of its spokespeople at the meeting.

“We have sewer depth monitors, but the village suffers with poor internet signals which send the data back to us. We are looking at installing aerials on monitors.

“Ground water and rain water will be there one minute and the next it is gone.

"We have done pipe lining works. We can only promise to keep looking to find what the problem is."

It said it had issues with sealing the storm tank because of the amount of rain.

“We might have missed the window of opportunity and the levels are rising at a rapid rate,” the spokesperson added.

“We put tankers out, but 23/24 was the wettest winter in history. There is already high ground water. We have to prioritise where we put our tankers across our region.

“We would rather pollute than internally flood properties."

Thames Water apologised for disruption caused last winter, adding it was concerned about current ground water levels and is preparing for a 2013/14 scenario.

“It is not acceptable for us to have sewage entering people’s homes or spilling on to the streets," the company said.

"We have had the wettest winter since the last major floods in Newbury."

Thames Water was asked when the sewage pipes to the village upstream will be protected from ground water flooding.

“We have historically completed lining of sections of foul sewer on the road to Chapel Row, close to The [Old] Boot public house, installed manhole sealing plates on Jennetts Hill/Cock Lane, lined a section of sewer behind the Pot Kiln, sealed six manhole chambers on the section of sewer close to Magpie Farm,” it said.

Ed Hanrahan, Stanford Dingley Parish Council chairman, grilled the water company, saying: “You have repeatedly said Stanford Dingley won’t be forgotten.

"But nothing has been done in 2024. Your report says everything stopped in 2023.

“You say you have been to many meetings in Stanford Dingley, but I am the chair of the parish council but haven’t been able to get a face-to-face conversation with anyone from Thames Water since 2022.

"I'd hate to think you were exaggerating the level of attention that Stanford Dingley has been given to the scrutiny committee.”

He said case officers send non-sensical updates and repeatedly close the complaints despite not having done anything.

“Nothing is planned for Stanford Dingley despite saying we haven’t been forgotten,” he added.

Thames Water apologised repeating: “You are not forgotten. It is a village we are all aware of. We can only promise to keep looking to find what the problem is.”