East West Rail workers slammed for allegedly littering during construction

A Buckinghamshire resident has slammed the litter left ‘during the construction’ of the new East West Rail line from Cambridge to Oxford.

The man, based in Marsh Gibbon, claimed that construction workers had discarded litter while building the new railway through Buckinghamshire.

He said: “There is a considerable amount of debris that has been left behind including discarded ear plugs.

“It is possible some is from passing traffic but [I] suspect the majority of this is from your workers, as we have only seen your workers using this location.”

Pictures taken by the resident, who wanted to remain anonymous, show earplugs discarded on a road.

The litter, which also includes bottles and other items thrown into nearby bushes, was still there on Tuesday morning.

East West Rail Alliance is building the section of East West Rail between Bicester and Bletchley on behalf of East West Railway Company.

The Alliance told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it was tackling litter in the areas it worked in.

A spokesperson said: “We understand the concerns raised regarding littering, regular litter collections are being carried out and we will reiterate this issue during on site briefings.”

Last week, the resident also raised concerns about flooding in his area, which he said was ‘caused by EWR drainage’, although EWR was not working in the area at the time.

He claimed that drainage EWR had installed overspilled onto Station Road under the train bridge, which caused flooding and damage to the tarmac.

He said: “We now have a deep pothole which if a cyclist or motorcyclist hits will be extremely dangerous and likely to lead to broken bones etc.”

The Alliance said a ditch had been flooded by excess run-off from a field and it appeared that the highways drainage on Station Road, Marsh Gibbon was blocked.

It added: “We’ve already notified the local highways authority regarding the drainage issues and pothole; we’ll keep the community informed of any updates.”

In December it was reported that the track laying process for the EWR route between Bicester and Bletchley was nearly complete.