Thames Water has publicly apologised to those based in a Buckinghamshire village after road closures and cordoned-off car parks caused major disruption.
This comes after heavy rain hit the Thames Valley on February 9, leading to areas of Chalfont St Peter being severely impacted by flooding.
Business owners and shop managers situated along the civil parish’s Market Place admitted they had lost several customers due to one of the main car parks being closed, as maintenance workers continue to flush away all the excess water, which is several inches high.
No definitive time frame has been given as to when the ongoing works will be completed.
A volunteer at a charity shop stated that the village's main car park being closed has caused them to lose customers.
A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We are sorry to customers impacted by ongoing high water levels and flooding in Amersham/Chalfont St Peter.
“The excessively heavy rain that our region has experienced since early January means the groundwater and river levels are very high in this area at the moment and the ground is saturated.
“All these issues combined mean there is nowhere for further rain or other flow from nearby land to go and therefore our sewers are struggling to cope.
“Our top priority now is to work with the Environment Agency (EA) and Local Authorities (who manage river flooding and local drainage respectively) to stop any further property flooding from occurring.
“Our teams are on site and working hard round the clock to install large temporary pumps that will help create some space in our sewers by maximising flows and subsequently get them back to working normally.
“We also have our Customer Representative team on-site answering customer questions and offering support where they can.
“The impact we have on our local environment is very important to us and we are working with the EA to minimise this.
“We are utilising our fleet of tankers to prevent any further pollution and to assist with the removal of the excess water.”
The floods are primarily caused by the River Misbourne overflowing when there is heavy rainfall, which could cause issues with sewage systems.
A Thames Water spokesperson continued: “Heavy rainfall can have an instant impact on our sewer systems but larger catchments have a slower response.
“This means there can be a delay between it raining and the flow arriving at the overflow point.
“Although we regard any discharge of untreated sewage as unacceptable, and are working hard to make them unnecessary, this will take time.
The overflows are designed to operate automatically when the sewer network and sewage works are about to be overwhelmed and release diluted wastewater into rivers rather than letting it back up into people’s homes.
“It is the way the system is designed to operate.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article