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| Flood washes away business |
Traders count cost as latest mains
burst is blamed on ‘a lot of ropey old pipes’
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Sunrise dry cleaners boss Anup Patel (left) wades through
the torrent
Top and above, the scene during and after the mains burst
Convenience store boss Yilmaz Demircibi, right, and assistant
Irfan Demircibi
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DRAMATIC photographs taken by traders on Monday morning captured
the moment Essex Road in Islington became ‘Essex River’.
A 150-year-old water main burst causing three days of traffic chaos
at the junction with New North Road.
Pharmacy manager Jill Mose, 40, said: “We were unloading oxygen
cylinders and next thing we knew there was a two-foot high column
of water gushing out.
“The water board took two hours to turn it off and it took
four of the workers to turn off the stopcock.”
Fire crews, working with Islington Council emergency teams, used
sandbags in an attempt to stop water flooding shops.
Traders have demanded to know why it took so long to bring the burst,
the latest in a series in Islington, under control. Convenience
store manager Yilmaz Demircibi, 24, said: “We lost all this
trade and then had to clean everything up. My friend’s shop
in Upper Street suffered exactly the same thing last year.
“Thames Water needs to sort itself out. I’m selling up
next years. I’ve had enough of this area.”
Anup Patel, 44, owner of Sunrise dry cleaners, said: “The water
was just gushing into the shop. I’ve never seen anything like
it before.”
Mr Patel estimates he lost around four hours trade.
Islington’s Lib Dem environment boss, Councillor Bridget Fox,
demanded that Thames Water “cough up compensation with no delay
and no quibbles”.
She said: “It’s another example of 21st-century London
coping with a 19th-century water system. There’s a lot of ropey
old pipes under our streets.
“In the next few months a large part of the borough’s
pipes will be replaced. It’s going to be a huge amount of hassle
but the council is going to be on Thames Water’s back making
sure they do it as quickly and quietly as possible.”
Thames Water said the 10 business hit by flooding would be offered
compensation.
A spokesman added: “We heard about the incident at about 11am
and were on the scene within the hour.
“We managed to shut down the main and return water pressure
by 1pm.
“There was some flooding to 10 commercial properties, none
of which had to close. The damage was very slight.
“We would like to apologise to businesses and residents.”
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