Firefighters help traders and residents during the Caledonian Road flood back in February

SIX months after being hit by flooding caused by a burst Thames Water pipe, businesses in Caledonian Road are still waiting for maintenance and compensation.

As the government declares two-thirds of the country is in a drought amid the hottest summer on record, traders and the council are fuming at the “profit-driven” company which has still not fully paid out, while promises of replacement stock have not been delivered.

Traders told the Tribune they were still having nightmares about the flood and were being treated “like numbers on a spreadsheet” rather than human beings.

Thames Water said customer representatives and loss-adjusters would be “assisting anybody affected by the flood” but many of the businesses are still shuttered.

Parmjeit Chopra, who runs a Nisa Local convenience store, told the Tribune: “I’m so frustrated and disappointed. I just want my shop to be back to how it was in February. They just keep pushing payments back, and they just don’t communicate at all.

“We don’t have our storage space back, we don’t have our freezers. So we can’t sell frozen food or ice creams, and therefore we’re losing customers. If we don’t have a solution soon, we will have to close the business because we can’t work like this.”

Traders attempt to hold back the water as many businesses were severely damaged by the flood

Mr Chopra said he was still owed in excess of £30,000 worth of damage repayments, stock replenishment and compensation. Thames Water have made some interim payments to customers to replace equipment and refit shops, but nothing has been offered in the way of compensation and many of the traders have had to use money from their own pockets to complete outstanding works.

Eleni Lasheen, who has run beauty parlour So Fab London for 18 years, said that even the interim payments included deductions, and that every time she tried to contact Thames Water to chase compensation, she was met with “tumbleweed”. So Fab London was closed for three months and reopened in May after a string of “18-hour days” to get everything back to working order.

She told the Tribune: “It’s been a huge stress on our business, I haven’t been able to sleep because I was waking up having panic attacks, and now we are having to rebuild everything, from our customer base to our tax arrangements.

“Their lack of communication, how much you have to chase them, I will be honest, it pushed me to the edge. I have given up and drawn the line because they have made us feel we won’t get anything other than the absolute bare minimum.”

Earlier this week, the BBC reported that the company had paid its new finance chief a £1m singing-on fee despite huge debts.

Cllr Paul Convery, who represents the Caledonian Ward, said it was “scandalous” that compensation payments still hadn’t been delivered.

Eleni Lasheen

He said: “Six months ago, Thames Water flooded dozens of shops and basements on Caledonian Road and almost destroyed many small local businesses. The company promised speedy compensation yet the payments still haven’t arrived. It’s scandalous behaviour from a completely unaccountable company that wastes a quarter of its supply in leaks and bursts and then imposes water bans on its users when the summer gets hot.

“Adding insult to injury, the company has come up with wangles to pay multimillion-pound bonuses to its incompetent senior executives.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “We recognise the impact the burst pipe on Caledonian Road has had on local businesses and the wider community earlier this year.

“Following the incident, our insurance claims handlers were appointed to assess each claim on its individual circumstances, and they continue to work with affected businesses to progress outstanding cases as quickly as possible.

“Claims of this nature can vary significantly in complexity and the time taken to resolve them depends on the information and supporting evidence available to assess the claim.

“While many claims have already been settled, a number remain ongoing and the claim handlers continue to engage directly with those impacted.

“We understand how difficult and disruptive this incident has been and we remain committed to supporting customers through the insurance claims process with regular communication throughout.”