Shop owners near North Harrow London Underground station affected by severe flooding on Wednesday night (June 8) say they had no contact from Harrow Council after being flooded out.
Warnings for heavy rain were issued by the Met Office during the afternoon, with North Harrow tube station being shut as a result of the flash floods.
The parade of shops located directly next to the tube station were also flooded thanks to the extreme weather , with Soles and Heels and Special Delivery both remaining closed on Thursday morning (June 9) to clear up the aftermath.
Flower shop Special Delivery has two entrances, one on the main road and one leading into the station, and owner Aathavan Sri described the water coming through the station and into his shop as a "waterfall."
Mr Aathavan rents the shop premises off of Transport for London and praised them for the efforts in helping, but claimed that no one from Harrow Council had been in contact with them.
He said: "There hasn't been any contact from the council. No one has been down here to see us or speak to us.
"TfL have been helpful, the area manager has been down and he helped us to clear up the shop, but we're still cleaning up because our stock room was on a lower level and was flooded badly.
"We had to move the bins out and put them next to the road because they would have started to smell bad in here, but no one from the council has said anything about moving them or collecting them.
"We may end up getting fined for fly-tipping, I don't know, but we had to move them out.
"The flood water might be gone but the road is dirty now and the council haven't been out to clean it up."
Walls will have to be replaced
Soles and Heels also echoed Mr Aathavan's opinion that the response from the council had been slow, with Nilesh Ramji, who is the son of the owner, saying: "We have had no calls or no visits whatsoever.
"We won't have to bring the floor up because we have tiling but the walls with have to be replaced because there is wood behind it and it will be rotten."
A spokesperson for Harrow Council said: "Following yesterday’s flash floods, we have been compiling all reports that have come in.
"Officers will be out tomorrow visiting the areas/businesses affected and talking to the relevant authorities."
North Harrow station was open today (June 9) and most of the business on the parade of shops on Station Road were also open for business, with Special Delivery thinking they will be shut for at least six days, although they were still fulfilling orders, while Soles and Heels wanted to get back open ASAP.
