Burst water main closes Acton High Street again

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Cllr. demands compensation for affected residents

Traffic diversions are still in operation after the water mains beneath Acton High St burst outside the Town Hall at around 2:30am on Saturday 7th January 2006.

Whilst there was no flooding to local homes, some properties either side of Acton High Street, from Ealing Common to the west to Acton Central station to the east, experienced a temporary loss of supply.  The water supply was restored to most homes by Saturday afternoon but remains erratic in certain areas.

Thames Water distributed over two thousand bottles of water outside the Town Hall and provided 13 large water tanks across the area to customers with special needs who were highlighted by Ealing Council and the local housing association.

A spokesperson for Thames Water told actionw3.com that they hope to reopen a stretch of the High Street outside Acton Town Hall by Friday 13th January. 

Cllr Gary Malcolm, a resident of Acton said: "I live minutes from the mains burst and was without water for about two days and had low water pressure for a while as well. I even had to go to a friend's for a shower. I or residents in Acton do not expect anymore to get an apology from Thames Thames Water. They are so poor at maintaining our pipes whilst they still making huge profits as they also push our water bills higher and higher. Thames Water should give a sum of compensation to those who suffered."

This is the second closure of the High Street in recent weeks. The previous one was the result of a burst gas main and there is increasing concern about the state of the predominantly Victorian age utilities infrastructure in the local area. Questions are also being raised about whether similar disruption will be occurring by the time the West London Tram is built. As it would be impossible to divert the tram closures would mean that there would be no public transport along this stretch of the Uxbridge Road.

In the meantime the currently road diversions remain in place.

January 11, 2006