COUNCIL leader Rob Gledhill has blasted Anglian Water for being “totally ineffective” at fixing the flooding at Grays Beach Park.

The park has been off-limits for over a month after being flooded by sea water.

Anglian Water have said the problem had been caused by damage to their equipment from fly-tipping.

The company said valves were damaged from ‘large, bulky’ fly-tipping, which was also making it difficult to repair.

Mr Gledhill said: “Anglian Water has been totally ineffective in finding a sustainable solution.

“They are sending engineers out to fix it without the right keys and then hiding behind the lack of a permit to excuse their inaction.

“Thurrock Council was advised this week that repair work is expected to take up to four more weeks before the area could reopen to the public but that isn’t good enough.

“We have continually offered to help them to get these permits.

“My main concern is that this valve has not been properly maintained and we will be asking them to show us evidence of their maintenance plans for this piece of equipment and others located across the borough.

“The pictures are atrocious – these ignorant fly tippers are not just blighting our open spaces with their dumping, but now are directly impacting on services and facilities for children and families.

He added: “Children are not being able to use the equipment, dogs are being restricted on where they can go, and earlier this week I was told local businesses are being affected as excess water is flooding up through drains.

“Summer is almost over, children will be going back to school soon – Anglian Water needs to just get on with it.

“We will continue to work with Anglian Water but we will also continue to push for a quicker and better resolution.”