Castle Point MP Rebecca Harris has welcomed a commitment from Virgin Active to look into problems with the drains in the car park of their gym on Rayleigh Road in Thundersley that had seen rain water and sewage from an overflowing manhole in the carpark running into Rayleigh Road.

Residents had complained to Rebecca that during heavy rain large volumes of rainwater was flowing from the gym’s large carpark into Rayleigh Road adding to recent problems with flooding along the highway. They had also complained that sewage water had been spewing out from a manhole in the car park at the same time.

Rebecca and members of her staff travelled down to the gym during the next heavy rain to take photos and then sent them to the company headquarters demanding action.

Rebecca said:

“I saw it with my own eyes, it is utterly unacceptable to have foul sewage water and such large volumes of rainwater flooding into the road every time it rains heavily.

“To their credit, Virgin Active have taken on board the seriousness of this I am pleased that they are looking into the problem. Virgin Active are good partners to the local community and I am sure they will get the problem sorted as quickly as possible for the benefit of their neighbours.

“I am working with residents and the council to help tackle all of the factors that lead to flooding in the area and although this was by no means the largest factor, every single one needs to be dealt with to give peace of mind to residents.”

Virgin Active have confirmed to local MP Rebecca that they are looking into ways they can reduce the volume of rainwater entering the main drain and that they are working with the local water company to investigate the sewage issue.