‘Nightmare’ Thames Water tankers cause months of disruption for Woolhampton residents

Thames Water tankers have caused months of chaos in Woolhampton.

Residents of Station Road have complained of tankers damaging roads and rattling through the village at all hours, keeping them awake at night.

A meeting was held in the village on Wednesday (February 12), where Thames Water representatives told councillors and residents the disruption would end within five weeks, newburytoday understands.

It also said its tankers would stick to a 10mph speed limit through Station Road until then – but most residents say they haven’t and are unhappy about the impact they have had.

“It’s been a nightmare,” said resident Jenny Campbell.

“The road is beginning to deteriorate up here now. I can’t believe they haven't knocked our walls.”

Residents Terry and Cathy Vallis added: “They’ve destroyed the road. I won’t go down there anymore until it’s repaired.

“The actual tankers themselves are a continuous nuisance. Some of them rattle during the night, which causes sleep disturbance.”

Sarah Thomas said the tankers have made school runs difficult.

“My driveway is constantly blocked,” she told newburytoday. “They leave their engines running, so we’re breathing in the fumes as well.

“Both my sons sleep in the front, so they hear them a lot. It’s relentless.”

The Rowbarge, south of the level crossing and swing bridge, has the cracks you’d expect from an 18th-century pub.

But staff say new ones have appeared since the tankers started constantly driving past and they are concerned how this will affect trade.

Landlord Owen Parker-Brunt told newburytoday: “It’s not nice if you sit down to have a meal and you see a giant sewage tanker driving past every 20 minutes or so.

“We’re almost 200 years old. This building wasn’t built to have these heavy tankers going up and down this road at all times of the day.

“We’ve experienced damage here due to the vibrations. We’ve got engineers coming out.

“If our insurance believes the damage is caused by them, then they can deal with it that way.

“But that will cause all of our insurance premiums to go up just by starting a case.”

Woolhampton Parish Council chairman Sean Garden, who lives in Station Road, described the situation as “horrendous”.

“The problem is the road is not only splitting and cracking along the whole strip; it also has areas where the road has actually sunk.

“So, when the vehicles reach up to about 30mph, the whole house shakes from front to back.

“It will cost the [district] council a substantial amount of funds to repair these.

“I don’t feel it should come from the council. [Thames Water] should be accountable for it, and that’s what we're looking at doing now as well.”

Mr Garden said at the meeting with Thames Water, hosted at his house, the walls and floors started shaking as tankers passed.

He added: “We’re a small community here. It’s not just people who live on Station Road who are suffering.

“If that swing bridge has to be repaired like they did in Aldermaston, it could be out for three months.”

Mr Garden also confirmed police have been contacted after one tanker allegedly drove through the level crossing and continued driving.

“The last thing we want is a near miss,” he continued. “If a train had been coming through there on the side where the vehicle hit, it could have been catastrophic. Similar to what happened in 2004 [the Ufton Nervet train crash which killed seven people].”

In a letter to residents, the water utility company said it had to set up a temporary process plant to continue treating wastewater after its primary treatment tank failed at its Woolhampton Sewage Treatment Works.

It said the route through the village was the most suitable to transport its wastewater flows to the Newbury STW for treatment.

The disruption began at the end of August. It paused and then continued at the end of September.

Further letters from the water company confirmed the first part of the new plant had been installed, adding that the second was due to be installed at the end of January.

The tankers moved to sewage pumping stations at Woolhampton and Brimpton during each installation and the road was closed outside the plant.

It said the tanker operations will stop once the works are completed.

Thames Water has been contacted for further comment.