Supersewer puts memorial garden in peril

Bereaved relatives branded Thames Water "insensitive" over plans that could see memorial benches and trees torn out to make way for the capital's £3.6 billion supersewer.

King Edward VII Memorial Park by the Wapping riverside has more than 10 tributes to local people. Relatives fear that a concrete access road will run through the park while the Thames Tunnel is being built and that memorial benches could be relocated near sewage shafts.

Campaigners say the area could become a building site for up to seven years.

Thames Water said alternative sites are being considered, pending a public consultation due to finish in the autumn. It added that any benches that had be removed would be put back when the work was finished.