Crater for sewer 'will stink out most of borough'

Plans to dig a 30-metre wide crater as part of a £2 billion "super-sewer" will destroy a park and blight much of a London borough with its stench, it was claimed today.

Thames Water wants to build the sewer as an outlet for storm water, which Victorian sewers are unable to cope with.

The tunnel will channel sewage and waste water into a series of processing plants, avoiding the current practice of pumping it directly into the Thames.

The crater would be the the sewer's entry point.

The water firm had planned that the entry point for the 18 mile-long Thames Tunnel would be in a non-residential area in the borough of Hounslow. Now it expects the tunnel to run between Hammersmith and Beckton.

Although Thames Water has not specified where the crater will be, officials at Hammersmith and Fulham council fear the most likely site is Furnival Gardens.

Councillor Nicholas Botterill said: "We are shocked at Thames Water's U-turn as they always led us to believe the tunnel would start in Chiswick.

"It now appears they have changed their minds. We are pressing Thames Water for urgent answers. A 30-metre wide tunnel entrance near the Thames can only be justified in a massive area of open land well away from built-up areas.

"There is no area like that in Hammersmith and Fulham so the only answer must be to put the entrance further up river, where previously intended, at Duke's Meadow or thereabouts.

"It cannot possibly go anywhere in Hammersmith and Fulham as that would mean utterly destroying somewhere like Furnival Gardens or another one of our beautiful parks."

Thames Water wants to start building in 2012. It will be one of the biggest engineering projects ever attempted in the capital and the earliest expected finish date is 2020.

Council officers will meet Thames officials next month to ask where they propose to put six construction sites.

A spokesman for Thames Water said plans were at an early stage and it was consulting all affected parties.