1:57pm Friday 19th March 2010
By Mhairi Macfarlane
SCHOOL children have lost their play area for several days because of delays in repairing a leaking water main.
Teachers at Woodlands Montessori Preparatory School in Gordon Road, Leyton, have cancelled outdoor sports, lessons and play in nearby Drapers Field and its playground because of flooding room a nearby water main.
Teacher Beatrice Delli said it has been very disruptive for staff and children at the school and she was surprised Thames Water have not made repairs more quickly, despite being contacted on Tuesday.
She said: “The caretaker for the field contacted them on Tuesday evening but they said it was not a priority. The field has absorbed much of the water, but this is a big waste of water and we are running a school and have not been able to get the children outside.
“It is not only us, but all the neighbourhood who has been deprived of this. There are often football sessions on Saturday, which will have to be cancelled, because it looks like a swimming pool, not a field.”
She added: “We are very surprised the water company hasn't acted quicker. Parents have been coming every day, seeing the water getting bigger and wondering what we are doing.”
A Thames Water spokeswoman said engineers investigated the leak on Tuesday and discovered the fault is on the joint of a pipe, which is the responsibility of the nearby East London Music and Drama Centre.
She said: “It is the customers' responsibility, but we will carry out the work to repair and will have it finished today (Friday).
“There have been delays because of a number of factors. We had to identify who was the owner and therefore who was responsible, then to apply for a permit to work on the road. It was not an emergency, but we haven't left it.”
Ms Dilli said the school will continue to keep children inside until the water subsides.
She said: “It is a requirement from Ofsted that children should go out once a day and we haven't been able to do that. And when there is no good reason for us not to take them out it is a penalising the rights of the children.”
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