Primary school may have to close due to flooding in Cranford

This was the scene at a primary school in Cranford on Monday morning (February 8) after much of the area was reportedly flooded with drainage water.

The boiler room at Cranford Primary School, in Berkeley Avenue, was filled with around three feet of murky, foul-smelling water, although it is not thought to be a direct result of rain brought to the capital by Storm Imogen.

The resources room under the school stage, where teaching materials are stored, has also been flooded, though in this case with clear water, according to headteacher Meena Walia.

She said on Monday that there was no heating and she did not yet know the extent of any damage to the boiler system, which she said was replaced only 18 months ago at a cost of around half a million pounds.

She said she was monitoring the situation but that if the water was not cleared soon she may have to close the school in the interests of health and safety.

"There's been a funny smell for days but on Monday morning my caretaker rang to say he'd had to turn the heating off as there were three feet of water in the boiler room," she said.

"The water board said some flooding was reported by a resident on February 3 and it had been trying to ascertain the cause since then. They were talking about the whole of The Parkway being affected.

"Unless something gets done soon we may have to close. I will have to judge it day by day."

Inundated due to heavy rain

Ms Walia added that a workman at the school had told her a broken pipe in the area was believed to be responsible, but the damaged pipe had yet to be identified.

Councillor Gurpal Virdi, who took the photo of the boiler room, said there were major sewage and drainage problems affecting Berkeley Avenue, which he understood had been caused by damage to a main sewage pipe. He said a number of roads in the area had been affected.

A Thames Water spokesman said it had a team at the school working with the council to clear the floodwater, which he said was caused by the sheer volume of water rather than a damaged pipe.

"We're doing all we can to help pump floodwater away from the school, using specialist tankers where they are most effective," he added.

"We're also working hard to manage sewer levels in the area as our network, which is only designed to take wastewater, has been inundated with floodwater from the heavy rain."