Whitton allotment holders sit tight

12.00.00am GMT Tue 21st Feb 2006

Vince Cable, Lib Dem MP for Twickenham (far right), on a better day for allotment holders! In Hounslow Borough, Whitton Dene allotment holders remain baffled at notice to quit allotments.

Almost a year after local Whitton allotment holders were advised by Hounslow Council to quit a 'contaminated' site in Whitton Dene, most are still staying put but are angry that the Council refuses to clarify the situation. Some have had health checks for lead poisoning and have established that there is none.

Vincent Cable, Lib Dem MP for Twickenham, who has intervened with Hounslow Council on (Richmond) residents' behalf (the allotment is on the borough boundary) said that the main contaminant (PAH), which comes from tarmac, is inert and insoluble and is no threat to health:

"Allotment holders are utterly baffled. They are being advised to quit allotments which they have tended, in some cases, for 20 years. Yet there appears to be no scientific basis for the health warning and Hounslow Council have not officially declared the site contaminated. Poor communications haven't helped."