December 3rd 2024.
People in the village of Bramley in Surrey were given some bad news, and it wasn't what they were hoping for. The villagers have been dealing with a polluted river and unpleasant smells for quite some time now, and it seems like things are only going to get worse. Not only are they dealing with the existing pollution, but a fuel leak from a nearby petrol station is going to continue contaminating their water for years to come.
In fact, the situation has gotten so bad that from May to July, the locals were advised not to drink the water at all due to the leak. This news was confirmed by Jeremy Hunt, the local MP, in a post on Facebook. Hunt, a Tory, stated that it would take years, not months, for the village to be free of the petrol contamination. While there has been some progress in cleaning up the pollution, it will still take some time.
On a slightly more positive note, Hunt did mention that recent water samples in the area have met UK standards. However, this does little to ease the worries of the villagers who have been dealing with this issue for far too long.
The fuel leak is said to originate from a petrol station owned by Asda, but the problem of contamination has been reported even before the company took over the site. Chris Hardstone, a landlord at the Jolly Farmer pub, has been dealing with the effects of the pollution for years. He even had to shut down the pub's hotel due to the strong smell of petrol. According to Hardstone, the cellar had a strong fume smell in 2021, and it took a long time for anyone to take notice. The initial assumption was that it was mold, but it turned out to be a fuel leak from the petrol station. The contamination has caused significant financial losses for the pub, as the bad smell has affected their business.
Aside from the pollution, the villagers are also dealing with another major issue - lack of internet. Some homes have been without internet since May, and Openreach, the company responsible for maintaining the cables, revealed some bad news during a public meeting. Due to the presence of fuel, it has been challenging for them to fix the underground cables. As a temporary solution, 25 homes and businesses have been provided with mobile dongles for internet access.
In response to the leak, Thames Water has stated that they are aware of the issue and are currently investigating the cause. They have engineers working on the necessary repairs and apologize for any inconvenience caused. As for Asda, they have agreed to provide more than £500,000 in community vouchers to the affected villagers. However, the process of distributing these vouchers has proven to be complicated, as stated by James Barge, senior director of corporate affairs and communications at Asda. He mentioned that providing cash directly to the villagers would require approval from various parties, including the company's board and shareholders. As a result, the vouchers were deemed to be the best solution.
[This article has been trending online recently and has been generated with AI. Your feed is customized.]
[Generative AI is experimental.]
