‘This is a sensible solution. It is time for healing’

Exeter’s controversial Active Streets traffic experiment has been scrapped.

Guy Henderson – Local Democracy Reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

Some of the regulations stopping traffic getting through parts of the city will be suspended straight away. Others will stay in place until the school summer holidays.

Cllr Rob Hannaford (Ind, Exwick and St Thomas) said the phased approach was a ‘fudge’ but Cllr Phil Bialyk (Lab, Exwick) said lessons had been learned and a compromise could be made.

“I think this is a sensible solution,” he said. “It is time for healing.”

A boisterous public gallery at County Hall heard arguments for and against the Low Traffic Neighbourhoods trial, which has seen restrictions placed on some roads in the Heavitree and Whipton areas since August last year, stopping through-traffic in a bid to cut pollution and make the roads safer.

A hybrid committee made up of Devon County councillors and members of Exeter City Council voted to end the trial early amid huge public protests.

Heavitree estate agent Lyn Burgoyne said her business had been badly hit ‘almost overnight’ when the Active Streets Trial began, but climate scientist Professor Richard Betts of Exeter University said council reports advising the scrapping of the scheme were based on ‘poor quality analysis’.

Members of the city’s highways and traffic orders committee (HATOC) heard arguments for and against the experiment.

Objectors say the trial scheme merely moved congestion and pollution elsewhere, and roads on the fringes of the trial area are experiencing jams and delays.

More than eighty per cent of more than 24,000 people who responded to consultations came out against the scheme.

A report to the committee recommended stopping all the experimental traffic regulation orders as soon as possible.

But members agreed an amendment that the Hamlin Lane, Whipton Lane and Vaughan Road closures should be suspended within weeks. St Marks Avenue and Ladysmith Road will wait until schools have closed for summer at the end of next month.

Wooden planters in the road will stay in place to slow traffic, and discussions will be held with schools and community groups to discuss the way forward.

Chairman Carol Whitton (Lab, St Davids and Haven Banks) proposed the amendment and said lessons must be learned from the trial. “It is not for politicians to inflict harm on the most vulnerable in our society,” she said,

Cllr Lucy Haigh (Ind, Heavitree) was elected to the city council last month after campaigning against the project. She said: “I and many thousands of others believe this experiment is failing in many areas and should be suspended.”

Cllr Peter Holland (Con, St Loyes) told members: “This is a moment in time when you can make a difference for thousands of people.” And Cllr Alison Sheridan (Con, St Loyes) added: “‘To right this terrible wrong, action must be taken’

But Cllr Tess Read (Green, St Davids) urged: “If not this scheme, then what? That’s what we need to explore.”

South West Water withheld sewage data to avoid political attention

The water company behind a recent parasite outbreak in drinking water tried to hide sewage data to avoid “political attention”.

Adam Vaughan www.thetimes.co.uk

South West Water, whose chief executive was called to parliament over the Cryptosporidium outbreak, repeatedly refused to divulge information to The Times on sewage discharges that could reveal illegal dumping into rivers and seas on dry days.

Raw sewage releases are allowed during heavy rain, with spills on dry days considered risky for swimmers and more harmful to the environment.

The company told the UK’s data watchdog that it wanted to withhold the stop and start times of sewage spills because it would allow third parties to analyse the data. “These analyses may not be accurate and could in turn cause undue media and/or political attention,” it told the Information Commissioner’s Office.

South West Water feared that attention would result in pressure being put on the Environment Agency and Ofwat, the regulator, which are investigating its possible illegal practices. The water firm, which wants to raise household water bills by 20 per cent by 2030, warned of an “adverse effect on the course of justice”.

Susan Davy, its chief executive, was asked by the environment, food and rural affairs committee to a hearing after residents in Devon were told to boil water because of the parasite. The hearing was due to take place this week but was cancelled because of the announcement of the general election.

South West Water is one of six firms that have been formally ordered by the commissioner’s office to release pollution data, enabling scrutiny of whether it is discharging sewage when it is not raining.

Northumbrian Water, another one of the six, made a similar objection to its figures being made public. “The data could become the subject of significant media or political attention and a public conversation of this kind could result in pressure being applied, directly or indirectly, to the independent investigators,” it said.

The regulators are looking into whether several water companies have breached permits for handling sewage at their wastewater treatment works. An initial assessment indicated “widespread and serious” non-compliance by not treating enough sewage before releasing it into rivers and seas. Water firms could face financial penalties when the 30-month investigation reports its findings.

The Times was repeatedly rebuffed by the six water companies, including Yorkshire Water. It said the stop-start times of its spills, which could be cross-referenced with weather data to find potential evidence of illegal discharges on dry days, could lead to inaccurate analyses. It also suggested that releasing the information could “lead to pressure being applied to the investigations being conducted”.

Another of the companies, Anglian Water, argued that the data could “prejudice the conduct of fair trial”. It told the ICO: “It is our understanding that journalists … will attempt to ‘marry up’ spill data with weather data in order to reach conclusions regarding the occurrence of pollution events.”

Pollution of the UK’s waterways and coastlines has emerged as a key environmental issue of the election campaign. Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, cited sewage as an example of Tory “chaos” after the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, called an election, while the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey, highlighted sewage dumping in Windermere.

On Sunday the Liberal Democrats said their manifesto would include plans for “blue flag rivers”, a protected status to help swimmers and wildlife. The election has already delayed a decision by Ofwat on how much water firms can increase bills over the next five years to pay for new infrastructure, with the announcement pushed back to July 11.

“Water firms are trying to avoid scrutiny by withholding vital information on sewage spills. It is time we got tough on these polluting and profiteering companies,” Tim Farron, the environment spokesman for the Lib Dems, said.

Last week the government announced it would no longer accept applications for new bathing waters until 2025, which is a disappointment to swimming groups. The Times’s Clean It Up campaign has been calling for hundreds of new bathing waters on rivers by the end of the decade to prompt an improvement in water quality.

The Times is demanding faster action to improve the country’s waterways. Find out more about the Clean It Up campaign

Britain’s next government will need to fill a shortfall of up to £33bn in the public finances unless it is prepared to push through a fresh round of severe austerity measures, a thinktank has warned.

Larry Elliott www.theguardian.com 

The Resolution Foundation said the debate between Labour and the Conservatives over the funding of specific pledges was “detached from reality”, with election promises based on cuts that would be hard to deliver.

The thinktank said both the main parties were committed to reducing debt as a share of national income within five years but higher interest payments on debts, slower-than-expected productivity growth and the £10bn cost of compensation for the infected blood scandal would make that more difficult.

The Office for Budget Responsibility, the Treasury’s tax and spending watchdog, has estimated that the government is on course to meet its debt-to-GDP target with just £9bn to spare, but the Resolution Foundation said the winning party in the general election would face the choice of raising taxes or cutting spending to meet its debt target.

The thinktank said if the next government stuck to current spending plans the size of the deficit was likely to be about £12bn, but if it chose to spare prisons, the police and local government from fresh cuts, it could be as big as £33bn. In its annual health check on the UK economy last month, the International Monetary Fund warned of a £30bn post-election hole.

James Smith, the Resolution Foundation’s research director, said: “The state of the public finances has dominated the election campaign so far, with the inevitable arguments over how each spending pledge is funded. But this narrow focus risks distracting the electorate from the bigger question of how each party would manage the uncertainties facing the public finances.

“This question is crucial, as whoever wins the election could be confronting a fiscal hole of £12bn, if today’s uncertainties turn into bad news after the election. And if the next government wants to avoid a fresh round of austerity, that black hole could rise to over £33bn.”

The budgets for NHS England, education, defence and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office are ringfenced, but this would result in inflation-adjusted, per-person spending cuts to unprotected departments – such as justice, the Home Office and local government – of 13% between 2024-25 and 2028-29. Cuts on this scale – equivalent to £19bn – would amount to repeating nearly three-quarters of the cuts made during the 2010-2015 parliament.

“Delivering these cuts in the face of already crumbling public services and the public desire for more, not less, spending on public services would likely prove very challenging,” the Resolution Foundation said.

While the stated aim of both parties was to get debt falling, the next government could be on course to miss this target by more than £30bn. History and politics had left the fiscal debate “detached from this reality”, it added.

One of them is “just add lemon” South West Water!

The drinking water regulator for England and Wales has brought only three prosecutions against water companies for providing poor quality water since 2021, despite 362 instances in which water was flagged as being unfit for human consumption.

Helena Horton www.theguardian.com 

Periodically, members of the public or companies have informed the Drinking Water Inspectorate about water that has not been not safe for human consumption. In those instances, the DWI can issue legal instruments that require companies to put in place a package of measures.

The problems range from old pipes causing discoloured water to a deteriorating water-treatment process. Improvement measures vary from replacing pipes to rebuilding water-treatment works.

Figures reveal only a tiny fraction of these legal instruments led to a prosecution. Water companies are under a legal obligation to provide safe drinking water to their customers.

Since 2021, the DWI has brought three prosecutions: against Southern Water and South West Water in 2022 and Wessex Water in 2023. It also gave two cautions: against Thames and Southern Water in 2023.

Southern’s prosecution related to water contaminated with sodium hypochlorite that resulted in drinking water containing chlorate above the World Health Organization’s recommended guidelines. The company was fined £16,000 and a victim surcharge of £170.

South West Water was fined £233,333 and a victim surcharge of £170 for providing water unfit for human consumption. It was brown and had a strange odour, and the company responded at the time by telling customers to add a slice of lemon to remedy the taste.

Similarly, Wessex Water was prosecuted for supplying water unfit for human consumption due to its appearance and taste. It was fined £280,000 and a victim surcharge of £190.

The DWI can take prosecutions forward when there is evidence an offence has been committed, such as providing water that is not fit for human consumption, where the company does not have a defence that it took all reasonable steps and exercised all due diligence, and when such a prosecution is regarded as being in the public interest.

In the run-up to the general election, the Liberal Democrats have announced plans for “blue flag” rivers and, if elected, the party said it would set legally binding targets to prevent sewage dumping in those sites. Blue flag rivers would also give special protected status for swimmers and wildlife.

Ed Davey and the Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Jess Brown-Fuller during a visit to Birdham Pool Waterside and Marina to announce his party’s plans to abolish Ofwat. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

The Lib Dems also pledged to protect coastal marine wildlife, which would expand the blue belt of marine protected areas to cover at least 50% of British territorial waters by 2030.

The Lib Dems also plan to abolish Ofwat, the water regulator for England and Wales, and introduce one with greater powers. The party also wants to ban bonuses for water company executives.

Last month, unsafe drinking water led to more than 100 cases of cryptosporidium in Brixham, Devon. About 17,000 households and businesses were told by South West Water not to use tap water for drinking without boiling and cooling it first after the parasitic disease was detected in the supply. People have also been falling ill in Beckenham, south-east London, prompting Thames Water to test the supply for a potential cause.

The Guardian understands Labour is also considering adding an overhaul of the regulators to its manifesto.

The Lib Dem environment spokesperson, Tim Farron, said: “It is a national scandal that drinking water is being contaminated by profiteering firms [that] show complete disregard for public health and the environment.

“Toothless regulators and failed Conservative ministers are allowing water firms to get away with this. A slap on the wrist for contaminated water is not enough. This shows what a farce the regulations are.

“The Liberal Democrat bold plan to bring in a new water regulator, ban bonuses and reform water firms will crack down on this scandal. Under this Conservative government, water company bonuses and profits have soared while water supplies have suffered, all while sewage is destroying beaches and lakes.”

The Drinking Water Inspectorate declined to comment.

Another eye roller.

Rishi Sunak doesn’t escape the “small boat” problem while taking Coffee and doughnuts at a Henley rowing club.

If nothing else you have to admire the timing! – Owl

The Liberal Democrats launched their campaign for the Exmouth and Exeter East constituency on Saturday (June 2).

Adam Manning www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

Supporters gathered at Exmouth Football Club to mark the official campaign launch of Paul Arnott, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Exmouth and East Exeter.

Other candidates standing in Exmouth and East Exeter constituencies include David Reed for the Conservatives, Helen Dallimore for the Labour Party, Olly Davey, Green Party and Daniel Wilson for the Independents, and Garry Sutherland for the Reform Party.

The Lib Dems say they ‘are currently positioned as the main challenger to the Conservatives in the new constituency.’

Cllr Arnott has been leader of East Devon District Council heading up a Democratic Alliance of LibDems, Independents and Greens for the last five years.

Independent candidate, who stood in the 2019 election Claire Wright is backing Arnott and the Lib Dems because “only the Lib Dems can beat the Tories in the contest for the seat”.

She added: “I am backing Paul to win because he is decent, hard-working and tough, but also incredibly compassionate with a laser-like focus, leaving no stone unturned when justice is at stake. Paul will make a strong and wonderful MP.”

Cllr Arnott, added: “Both myself and Claire share the same values and we hope that the thousands upon thousands of constituents who were loyal to her will lend their votes to myself, resulting in a win for the Lib Dems – and ultimately, a win for the people of Exmouth and East Exeter.”

He told his supporters: “I never wanted to become a parish councillor in 2007, but I had to because of the sitcom that was playing out on my doorstep which wasn’t serving the people well.

“I never wanted to become a district councillor in 2019 but due to the well-known concerns about Conservative probity in planning, I had to. I did not expect to become Council Leader in 2020, leading it through and beyond the Pandemic.

“It was never in my life’s plan to run for a member of parliament, but I was asked to by many people. Now I can draw on the depth of my experience to make a difference where it’s so desperately needed.

“I am honoured the Lib Dems have put their trust in me and I will seize this opportunity to make things better here for everyone.”

Hospital patients are “dying in corridors”, nurses have warned as they declared a “national emergency” in the NHS.

news.sky.com 

Patients are regularly treated on chairs in corridors for extended periods of time – and sometimes even days, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has said.

They are also receiving cancer diagnoses in public areas, and may have to undergo intimate examinations there too, the union added.

A survey of almost 11,000 frontline nursing staff across the UK shows the practice has become widespread, the RCN said.

When asked about their most recent shift, almost two in five reported delivering care in an inappropriate area, such as a corridor.

Patient privacy and dignity had been compromised, almost seven in 10 said.

“You wouldn’t treat a dog this way,” one nurse said.

Another nurse recounted a patient with dementia being in a corridor for hours without oxygen.

They said: “When I arrived, she was in a wheelchair on a corridor with her daughter. She was extremely agitated, crying and confused. This care environment for any patient, never mind with dementia, was completely inappropriate.”

The RCN’s acting general secretary, Professor Nicola Ranger, will declare a national emergency at the start of the union’s annual conference.

The organisation will also publish a report on clinical care in inappropriate areas.

In order to show how widespread the practice has become, the RCN is calling for mandatory reporting of patients cared for in corridors.

“Our once world-leading services are treating patients in car parks and store cupboards,” Prof Ranger will tell delegates.

“The elderly are languishing on chairs for hours on end and patients are dying in corridors. The horror of this situation cannot be understated.

“It is a national emergency for patient safety and today we are raising the alarm.”

She will add: “Receiving a cancer diagnosis in a public area isn’t care. It’s a nightmare for all involved. We need to call it out as nursing staff, and health leaders and ministers need to take responsibility.”

Corridor care is a “symptom of a system in crisis”, the RCN’s report says, with patient demand in all settings, from primary to community and social care, outstripping workforce supply.

Boiling the water or boiling with rage, or both?

“Our main priority is to return supply to the quality our customers expect and deserve, quickly and safely.” Is this what South West Water considers to be quickly? – Owl 

Three weeks on from UKHSA first reports of the outbreak and five weeks since people started falling ill.

[The UKHSA reported the crypto outbreak on Monday May 13. And there were reports of people falling ill almost two weeks before SWW announced its boil notice early on Wednesday May 15

Radio Exe News www.radioexe.co.uk

But water company says they’re making progress

Nearly a month on from an incident which has left people in parts of South Devon needing to boil their water before drinking, or rely on bottled water, South West Water claims it’s making progress on making the water supply safe again.

More than a hundred people have been taken ill because of a parasite called cryptosporidium.

Affected households still need to take precautions and not drink direct from the tap, but the firm says it will help if they flush loos and clean with the public supply.

Incident director David Harris said: “Our regular sampling results show we are making good progress with removing cryptosporidium from the water supply in Kingswear, Hillhead and upper parts of Brixham area. 

“Our teams are continuing to complete our programme of work, which includes rigorous cleaning processes, as well as installation of additional protection measures, such as specialised filters and ultra violet treatment.

“In the meantime, we encourage people to continue to use water around their homes for washing, cleaning and flushing toilets. The smaller pipes in customer homes compared with our network means that water moves through home plumbing at a much greater speed. This speed of movement creates enough force to clean the pipes in customers’ homes and so it is important customers continue to ensure they use water, but boil it for any consumption like drinking and brushing teeth.

“We are working as quickly as possible to fix this situation. Public health remains our absolute priority and we will only lift the boil water notice when we are confident it is safe to do so and our public health partners agree. We will continue to keep customers and businesses up to date with progress. 

“Our main priority is to return supply to the quality our customers expect and deserve, quickly and safely.”

Dartmouth Chronicle reports:

South West Water knew of crypto bug more than 24 hours before boil notice

A worried correspondent reports tanker operations have been frequent in the past week .

Water Fit Live

Water Fit Live

A gold standard constituency by constituency poll from Electoral calculus indicates that the new Honiton & Sidmouth constituency, unlike Exmouth & Exeter East, is likely to be a straight fight between two former MPs: Richard Foord for the LibDems and Simon Jupp for the Conservatives.

Richard Foord is currently predicted to have 45% of the vote and a 74% chance of winning.

Jupp is currently trailing by ten points and is predicted as being ahead in only 4 of the 26 wards. He is considered as having only a 26% chance of winning.

In February 2023 Simon Jupp announced he was abandoning 78% of his current constituents as he became the Tory candidate for the new seat of Honiton and Sidmouth. 

He claimed that Sidmouth was where his home was.

Many of us thought he was on the chicken run, opting for what he thought was the safer seat.

If he is doing a “chicken run” then it looks like he has failed to impress his new constituents. His social media shows he has little feel for what local people want or connection to them.

A gold standard constituency by constituency poll from Electoral calculus gives the Conservatives only a 53% chance of winning the new Exmouth & Exeter East seat on a mere 22% of the vote. 

Paul Arnott for the Lib Dems is already only 3 points behind in second place and his campaign has hardly begun.

The Labour, Lib Dem and Green parties are predicted to command 56% of the vote (Reform are on 11%). [Numbers rounded]

Labour are currently claiming that only they can win but these numbers don’t back this claim.

In fact, detailed analysis would place Labour voters in a majority in only one ward, that of Pinhoe.

Labour is only given a 12% of winning.

Will a divided majority opposition hand the seat to the fifth of the voters who vote Tory?

Voters, what do you really want to achieve? – Owl

(Predicted turnout 66%)

Hilarious! Don’t you just love the folk of Honiton’s reaction to being the “canned audience” for Sunak’s flying visit (down by train shoulder to shoulder with real people but returned by private helicopter)?

As before Simon Jupp has a very small walk on part. Blink and you miss it. Maybe he is practising auditioning? – Owl

Councillors heard that occupancy is currently 10 per cent below break-even.

In 2015 Owl wrote: It seems all is not well at these so-called high-tech industrial areas [Sky park and the Science Park] on the outskirts of Exeter and Cranbrook. Yet thousands of houses are already being built for people supposed to be working in them. Recipe for disaster? [Exeter Science Park was “topped out” ten years ago in August 2014] – There’s plenty more in the EDW archive to follow this saga.

Guy Henderson – Local Democracy Reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

Exeter City Council has been urged not to ‘crash’ the city’s Science Park project as it tries to recover a £1 million loan.

The authority has decided to convert the loan into shares in the company running the high-tect park near Exeter Airport after hearing there is no prospect of the money being repaid when it becomes due next January.

The city council advanced the initial loan in January 2015, and it is due to be repaid – plus interest – after 10 years. But a report to an extraordinary meeting of the council said: “There is no security for the loan. The council is an unsecured creditor. Exeter Science Park Ltd is unable to repay the loan when it falls due.”

The council had the option to take enforcement action, but was warned that this was likely to undermine the company and deter potential investors. Converting the loan into equity would give the city extra security for its money.

Exeter Science Park is just off the M5 and the A30 east of the city. It sits within the East Devon District Council area, and is owned by four shareholders, Devon County Council, Exeter City Council, East Devon District Council and Exeter University.

It was set up to cater for businesses working in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine. It currently hosts 45 companies, creating 750 jobs, across six high-specification buildings.

But councillors heard that occupancy is currently 10 per cent below break-even.

Council leader Phil Bialyk (Lab, Exwick) told the meeting it was important to reaffirm the city’s support for the project as a driver to deliver high-quality jobs.

“I don’t think crashing the science park is the answer to getting our money back at this stage,” he said. And he said he accepted some criticisms from opposition councillors that the authority should not have been in the current position.

“Perhaps we have not had our eye on this particular ball,” he said. “We need to put that right going forward, and I think we will.”

But Cllr Tammy Palmer (Lib Dem, Duryard and St James) said the council risked making ‘yet another poor financial decision’. She went on: “We took a large chunk of public money and invested it without asking any of the right questions.

“We need to reassure people that we’re not just wasting money on vanity projects.”

And Conservative group leader Anne Jobson (St Loyes) said converting the loan into shares was the wrong approach.

“Surely our duty is to recover those funds?” she said. “We can’t afford to be generous with council taxpayers’ money. This is all too speculative, and there is no evidence that there is any further investment in the pipeline for the Exeter Science Park.

“Council taxpayers can’t rely on speculation.”

Progressive group co-leader Diana Moore (Green, St Davids) put forward amendments calling for greater scrutiny and accountability. She said the council had to learn lessons from previous ventures, including the demise of affordable its housing company Exeter City Living.

The amendments were defeated, but she said it was important that Exeter Science Park’s fortunes were turned around.

“I want to see real action and real change in the way this company is operating,” she said.

“The time to act is now.”

Because of possible contamination from hydrocarbons, following a long standing fuel leak. 

Readers may remember South West Water was fined £233,000 in 2022 for supplying “just add lemon” water to residents of Bratton Flemming in 2022. – Owl

Meanwhile Devon cryptosporidium victims hit 100 and residents told water is STILL too contaminated with faeces…www.dailymail.co.uk 

Hundreds of homes get ‘do not drink water’ warning

More than 600 households in a Surrey village have been warned not to drink tap water after tests carried out by Thames Water following a previous fuel leak.

Amy Walker, Julia Gregory & Victoria Park-Froud  www.bbc.co.uk

The water company said it was issuing the advice as a precautionary measure for properties in Bramley, where there has been concerns over several months about the spill from a petrol station.

Thames Water said “concerning results” had been identified in three areas., showing “elevated” levels of hydrocarbons, which petrol is made from.

Bramley resident Helen Melia said: “It’s hugely inconvenient – hugely worrying.”

Tess Fayers, Thames Water’s regional operations director, told BBC Radio Surrey: “It is all linked to an issue with a fuel leak which has been plaguing the town of Bramley for quite some time”.

Residents were visiting local shops to buy bottled water on Friday morning.

Catha Holt said she had been drinking only bottled water since the start of the year because of concerns about the water supply.

She added that the notice was “quite worrying for people”.

Raymond Vincent, who lives outside of the affected area in Bramley, said he had bought bottled water “because I’m taking a precaution”.

Steve Hardstone, landlord of the Jolly Farmer pub, said it had the only deep cellar in the high street, and the smell of fuel had “permeated the whole building”.

“It’s damaged us massively… We’ve had customers literally walk in and walk out again,” he added.

But the pub is not covered by the advisory notice, and Mr Hardstone said it would continue to use water “with some reservation” on Friday.

Bottle banks have been set up outside Bramley library and at Artington Park-and-Ride.

Ms Melia said she had not received any bottled water from Thames Water, but had some in the house already to brush her teeth and make tea.

The company is advising customers to avoid using tap water to brush teeth or prepare food, even after boiling.

But it said the water could be used for bathing, flushing toilets and in washing machines.

Water supply in the village “has been safe to drink up to this point”, the firm said.

Results on Thursday indicated high levels of hydrocarbons – which are found in petrol, Thames Water said.

Ms Fayers added that it had “isolated” the issue and had retested the three locations which raised concerns, with results being processed at an independently-verified laboratory.

‘I drank two-and-a-half litres of tap water overnight’

Evan Venn said he didn’t know about the issue until this morning

Evan Venn, 68, said he did not hear about the notice – which Thames Water issued on Thursday night – until this morning.

He said: “I drank two-and-a-half litres of tap water between last night and this morning. I went to the gym and had no idea.

“My wife told me this morning… she found out on Facebook.

“The communication is not very good full stop. I only found out this morning by opening the door that they had delivered the water and in there was the warning card.”

Peter Hall, 88, also wasn’t aware of the issue until this morning and has received a delivery of bottled water.

“We’d already had our breakfast, so we’d already consumed a quantity of the water and cleaned our teeth,” he said.

The alert comes amid an ongoing fuel leak from the village petrol station.

The Environment Agency said earlier this year it was continuing to investigate an “ongoing groundwater pollution incident in Bramley”.

The long-running issue has led businesses to say they have lost £100,000 due to the stench of fuel.

The firm is currently replacing a water pipe outside of the petrol station, with works set to last for about four weeks.

Thames Water has been regularly carrying out extra tests on water since October, but has recently ramped up efforts to about 12 a week.

It said that when ingested with drinking water, hydrocarbons “may lead to nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, however low levels of exposure are not expected to cause long term health effects.”

Jane Austin, a Conservative councillor on Waverley Borough Council (WBC), said the latest water warning was “just yet another horrible thing that’s happened to our village because of this fuel leak”.

She told BBC Radio Surrey: “We are so frustrated by what’s been thrown at us by something that’s completely… not of our choosing.”

WBC said it was working with Thames Water and other agencies to “mitigate the impact on residents”.

Earlier this month, thousands of people in Devon were told to boil their tap water before drinking it after a parasite outbreak was identified.

South West Water said the Hillhead reservoir and the wider Alston area was being investigated as a potential cause for the outbreak.

The number of confirmed cases of cryptosporidium has now reached 100, the UK Health Security Agency said on Thursday.

Separately, residents in Bramley have faced at least two water outages due to technical issues over the last year.

Let’s recall what the politicians have said and Defra’s knee jerk reaction to this “invasive” species

They are not essential. “For what it’s worth, I think there are more important things than beavers,” Thérèse Coffey a year ago June 2023.

From a Guardian article of 2014 soon after beavers were confirmed as living on the Otter:

If the government gets its way, the presence of these beavers in a corner of Devon – the first to be sighted in England for 500 years – will be a short-lived affair. This month, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said it planned to trap the colony and transfer them to a zoo or wildlife park, arguing they are an invasive non-native species and could carry disease.

The move has caused consternation. Almost 8,000 people have signed a petition against Defra trapping the beavers and animal rights campaigners are patrolling the banks of the river Otter, ready to raise the alarm if the hunters move in. There are whispers that hunt saboteurs are preparing to disrupt any moves to trap the beavers.

District councillor Claire Wright said [ten years ago] there was no logic in removing them. Like many, she disagrees with the government’s definition of them as invasive. “They are a native species. The obvious way forward is to monitor them carefully and see what impact they have,” she said.

Who has bee on the right side of history? – Owl

BBC News www.bbc.co.uk

Devon’s beaver population is playing a vital role in easing the impact of flood and drought in the region, according to researchers.

Experts from the University of Exeter and Devon Wildlife Trust have spent 10 years studying the effect beavers are having on the local environment.

They found that across four separate family areas, the beaver-created wetlands were storing more than 24 million litres (5.3m gallons) of water.

Researchers said this reduced river levels flowing through downstream communities during wet weather, whilst ensuring healthy stream flows during dry spells.

‘Reduced storm flows’

Dr Alan Puttock, Lecturer in Applied Nature Based Solutions at the University of Exeter said: “We have found that beaver-created wetlands contribute significantly to more resilient landscapes, reducing both the impacts of flooding and drought.

“Above flood-prone communities in the River Otter we have observed that beaver-created wetlands have significantly reduced storm flows.”

Devon Wildlife Trust is now using the research findings to make the case for creating more space for beavers and their wetlands.

‘Reward land managers’

The charity is also hoping to unlock more funding to compensate land owners who agreed to turn grazing land into habitats for beavers.

The Trust’s Green Finance Officer, Dr Holly Barclay, said: “We need to provide space along our waterways for beavers to live and create their wetlands.

“That’s why we are developing new funding streams which can reward land managers for the benefits they are providing to society – including flood and drought alleviation – by allowing beaver wetlands to develop on their land.

Wild beavers were found living in the River Otter in east Devon 2014 and given the legal right to stay in 2020.

The Devon Wildlife Trust monitors the animals and estimated the rodents are now living in 20 separate family territories along the river and its tributaries.