Emergency sewer repairs shuts town centre street

A ROAD in the centre of Henley will be closed until October 10 while a water company carries out “emergency” repairs.

Thames Water has closed Market Place, which runs to the left of Falaise Square from the top of Hart Street up to the town hall.

The utility company has said the closure is due to essential sewer work for possible flooding and has closed the road after being granted an emergency Traffic Regulation Notice from Oxfordshire County Council, the highways authority.

The work is being carried out in front of a number of shop fronts, including Blanchards Law.

The law firm had its basement flooded four times across 2023 and 2024.

On one occasion in August 2023, cleaners at the law firm discovered 3ft of sewage in the basement and flood meant up to three-quarters of the firm’s documents being held in storage were ruined.

Senior Paralegal Aishling Hageman-Rowe said that the work had been “extremely disruptive” but understood that it needed to be carried out.

She said that the drilling outside had meant that she and her colleagues have had to sort out alternative arrangements for their meetings.

She said: “If we have a meeting, we have to do our utmost to make sure we are either working from home or one of our other offices. We can’t have any disruptions when we are in a court hearing where we are meant to be in a private, quiet room. It’s inconvenient, but I understand they have to do it.”

A spokesman from Thames Water said: “We are currently carrying out essential sewer repairs on part of Market Place. Due to the complex nature of the repair, this will take some time, and we apologise to those affected by the road closure.”