Bracknell MP Dr Phillip Lee meets South East Water following flooding in Hanworth

Dr Lee met with officials on Friday to gain assurance that the water company is doing all it can to help the 15 families affected by the flooding, which happened on Wednesday, June 18.

A 16-inch diameter water main burst at about 3.45pm, leaving Ringmead and adjoining road, Claverdon, a raging torrent of water.

About 200 people had been left without water or had low water pressure for the rest of the day.

At the location of the burst Douglas Whitfield, head of operations at the company, and Steve Andrews, head of customer and commercial services at the water company, discussed with Dr Lee his concerns.

The issues raised surrounded the lack of communication with customers, concerns about a burst occurring for a second time within a few months and what the water company is doing to prevent this happening again.

Dr Lee said: “I am pleased that South East Water now understands the urgency of the situation. I will continue to keep a close eye on events, but I am sure that South East Water will rectify the situation appropriately.” Mr Andrews, head of customer and commercial services, said: “I would like to apologise again to our customers in Ringmead who were flooded as a result of a burst on this water main.

“We are also extremely sorry for the breakdown in communication between both ourselves and those affected customers over the past week during what must be an extremely difficult time.

Mr Whitfield, head of operations, added: “Our engineers are currently working to fast track the upgrade of a 235m section of pipeline between the junctions of Hanworth Road and Birch Hill Road to prevent this happening again in the future.

“We would like to thank Dr Phillip Lee for meeting with us this afternoon and we are pleased that we have been able to thoroughly discuss his concerns.

“As we progress with our work to upgrade this section of pipeline we continue to keep both the local community and Dr Lee up-to-date with progress.”