Thames Water are about to undertake one of the most ambitious mainsrenewable programmes the area has seen for over a century, say Lib Demcouncillors, who have welcomed the move. The utility briefed localcouncillors on the issue at a meting last night.

Thames Water officials revealed the scale of the problems in Hornsey’s leakywater system with a massive 25% of water lost through bursts and leakages.The new equipment is designed to have a long life and reduce theinconvenience caused by pipe fractures and valve failures.

Welcoming the programme, Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesperson and localcouncillor Lynne Featherstone said: “With such enormous leakage rates in thearea, it has been clear for a long time that system is close to the end ofits operational life. We welcome this programme of renewal and will workclosely with Thanes Water to ensure that disruption to businesses andresidents is kept to a minimum.”

Crouch End Lib Dem Councillor David Winskill also welcomed the plans, butsounded a note of caution:

“Thames water has had an appalling record up tonow in responding mains failures. Local incidents that require quite simpleattention have been known to drag on for weeks, causing traffic disruptionand major inconvenience to residents. I have made these points this week toThanks Water representatives and will be keeping a close eye on theproject.”