CHELTENHAM: Mindless yobs pollute emergency water supply

Mindless yobs pollute emergency water supply

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23405830-details/Mindless+yobs+pollute+emergency+water+supply/article.do

Gangs of mindless yobs have contaminated much-needed emergency water supplies in Cheltenham by urinating in water tanks.

In addition, some water bowsers in the town's run-down Hester's Way estate had bleach tipped in them, while others had simply been pushed over and the water spilled on the ground.

The youths are then said to have stood around laughing as desperate residents looked on in despair.

scroll down for more

A young boy fills his bucket at a water bowser, after flooding left local tap water contaminated

After police had been called in to guard the water, one angry resident said: "It's unbelievable that they think it's funny to put people's lives in danger.

"Everybody in Cheltenham is without water and desperate for any help they can get."

One water tanker was apparently emptied by the gang just 15 minutes after it has been delivered.

The patience of residents is wearing thin with many struggling to find adequate water supplies.

Mother-of-four Jean Goddard, 40, said there was now nowhere locally she could go for water.

"If you're on a low income or a single mum you can't get to the supermarkets for bottled water.

"There's only a couple of bowsers for this entire estate of hundreds of homes and they're empty. Kids keep vandalising them and leaving the taps on or breaking them off. I've heard kids have also been urinating in the bowsers. It's disgusting.

"People are getting very angry because they can't get water. I don't know why Severn Trent can't drop off bottled water at the end of streets."

But Brigadier Jolyon Jackson, the man leading the army operation in Gloucestershire, has downplayed reports that yobs are poisoning the water supply.

Calling for "a sense of proportion", he said he was aware of just two such cases out of 1,000 browsers.

"I don't think it's seen as a general problem," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"The bowsers have all got lids and I think if the lid is off, people generally shouldn't use them."

He added: "The problem with the bowsers is the difference between reality and expectations. However often you fill a bowser, it will always be empty before you get the next tanker round.

"It is a huge logistic problem. If you consider 140,000 households without water, 340,000 people - that's over three times the size of the British army - and a huge logistical problem on flooded roads."

More than 1,000 bowsers have been sited across Gloucester, Tewkesbury and Cheltenham, where 140,000 homes had been left without running water.

The Prince of Wales is set visit victims of the floods today as the massive clean-up operation continues. He will visit flood victims in Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, meeting families, emergency teams and volunteers.

Scroll down for more

The bodies of Bramwell Lane (below) and his son Chris were found in the flood-surrounded Tewkesbury RFC clubhouse (above)

A retired accountant and his son were killed as they tried to pump water from the cellar of a flooded rugby club.

The bodies of Bramwell Lane, 64, and 27-year-old Christopher Lane were found in Tewkesbury RFC clubhouse, close to the Gloucestershire town's historic abbey, this morning.

The men had been using a petrol-powered generator to clear water from the club's beer cellar because the floods had cut off the electricity supply.

Investigators were last night probing the theory they were overcome by carbon monoxide fumes.

Bram Lane, as he was known locally, was said to have "lived for the club" he helped found and worked tirelessly as treasurer and a director while his son Christopher played for the team.

It was no surprise to anyone that they were among the dozen volunteers who gathered on Wednesday to tackle the mud and debris in the clubhouse, ahead of a charity event next weekend.

The majority of the volunteers left in the early evening but Mr Lane, a divorce, and his son, who shared a home in nearby Walton Cardiff, said they would carry on a little longer.

But they never returned home and worried relatives raised the alarm this morning.

A regular at the rugby club said it was typical of Mr Lane to have been trying to get the club up and running.

"He was there seven days a week and was totally committed to the rugby club. He did it all for free and wasn't paid a penny. Other blokes were down there helping but gave up and came home.

"He kept on going because he wanted things to get back to normal as soon as possible and I guess in the end that ended up killing them both."

Mandy Masters, fixtures secretary for the junior section of the club, described Bram Lane as "a real gentleman" and the "lynchpin of the club".

She said: "There were a lot of people from the club up at the clubhouse to clear out the cellars after the floods and they had a petrol generator.

"Most of them decided they had got rid of the worst of it by evening time and they all left saying they would finish off today.

"But Bram said he and his son would stay a bit longer and get more done."

She added: "Bram was a lovely old chap - tall, very elegant and a real gentleman. What he didn't know about the club and rugby was not worth knowing.

"It was pretty much his life - he loved the place."

scroll down for more

David Cameron visits the flood affected areas of his constituency

David Cameron today met residents in one of the towns most severely affected by the recent floods.

Mr Cameron defended his decision to go ahead with a trip to Rwanda just as the rising waters were engulfing his Witney constituency, saying he had been in touch with his office throughout his time in Africa.