Thames Water works suspends ‘lifeline’ bus for elderly

South Londoners feel frustrated and “cut off” after the only bus route going down their road has been suspended due to Thames Water works.

A section of Eglinton Hill in Shooters Hill, Greenwich, has been closed since Monday by Thames Water, lasting until Friday.

The closure has caused the only bus route, the 244, that serves the road up the steep hill to be diverted to Academy Road.

Bob Cordery, who lives in Eglinton Hill, said that the road was a “major route” for those travelling up and down the steep hill.

He said that despite the works starting on Monday, he had not seen anybody working at the site in the past two days.

He said: “It’s very frustrating in the fact that I, like everybody else, have to pay my water charges.”

Mr Cordery said the large number of elderly people in the road have been “effectively cut off” due to the diversion.

He said one of his neighbours now has to take two buses and walk half a mile to visit the post office to avoid the steep hill.

By being forced to walk further to get to the town centre, Mr Cordery said his elderly neighbours now have to rely on the local corner shop instead of supermarkets.

He said: “If we didn’t have the shop, there would be a lot of people having real problems because that’s a lifeline for people who can’t get off the hill.”

Debbie Mahon, who also lives in Eglinton Hill, said she felt Thames Water should have knocked on doors to tell people about the works beforehand.

She said her sons have to use the bus when she’s unable to drive them to school.

Ms Mahon said: “I’m actually not going to be here tomorrow, so [my kids] will be getting the bus, or they would have been. They won’t know where to go now.”

Given the location of his road, Mr Cordery said this is not the first time he and his neighbours have had problems with Thames Water.

He said: “I’d say probably about every three or four years, we lose all our water because there’s a leak somewhere. And because we’re closest to the [water] tower, as soon as the water pressure drops off, we lose it.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “On Monday, November 28, our engineers began work to fix a burst water pipe on Eglington Hill, in Greenwich. As this was an emergency repair we were unable to write to local residents ahead of the work taking place.

“Unfortunately, the location of the burst pipe also meant we had to put a road closure and diversion in place to safely complete the work. We’d like to apologise to local residents and motorists for any inconvenience caused during this time. The repair is now complete and our team has been working to reinstate the road, which should re-open tomorrow, Saturday, December 3.”

A Greenwich council spokesman said: “Thames Water made us aware of their planned work, and we were assured that a letter was sent to all residents to inform them. We’re sorry to hear that this update may not have reached everyone.

“We have called Thames Water to ask them to complete the works as quickly as possible and asked for the road closure to be removed and replaced with a two-way lights system to manage traffic.”

Rosie Trew, head of bus operations at TfL, said: “We apologise to customers who have been affected by the diversion of the 244 bus route. We are working with Thames Water and the Royal Borough of Greenwich to ensure the buses return to their normal route as soon as possible. We expect this to happen in the next 24 hours.”

Pictured top: Bob Cordery shown in front of the Thames Water works on Eglinton Hill (Picture: Joe Coughlan)