SOUTH East Water has apologised to anyone impacted by its work in Kempshott following complaints that it had made the road 'unsafe'.

Residents had complained about a large pile of soil which was dumped along the verge in Heather Way, creating a blind spot for motorists.

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The road was also reported to be slippery because of chalk and mud which had not been cleared up by the workers.

A crash happened along the road last week.

Residents urged South East Water to clear up the mess before another accident happens.

The company, which is installing 600-metres of water main along Winchester Road, has now put in temporary traffic lights to help ease the problems.

A spokeswoman for South East Water said it had been made are of the crash, adding: "We were already adhering to the required traffic safety measures as we always do with our engineering projects.

"However, as soon as we were made aware of the crash we put additional safety measures in place to further protect the community and our workforce."

Jeremy Dufour, South East Water project manager, said: “We’re really sorry to anyone impacted by our vital project to install more than 600 metres of brand-new water main in Winchester Road, Basingstoke.

“Installing pipe involves digging trenches for the new main to be placed deep underground. With permission from Hampshire Highways, the excess spoil from digging the road surface is being stored within the verge in Heather Way.

“We’re deploying a road sweeper to the area to ensure the road is kept clear of any debris.

“As an additional measure to protect motorists from our working area, we have also installed temporary, three-way traffic lights at the Heather Way junction.”

Work on the project along the A30 between Kempshott and Hatch Warren roundabouts began on January 10, when traffic lights were installed along Winchester Road.

The work aims to reinforce the water main network to avoid increases in demand causing low pressure issues for customers.

South East Water said there is an urgency for the work to be done now to “continue supplying the community with top-quality drinking water”.

It added: “We are aware there are other utility and highway works in the area but this project must take place now.”

It expects the work to take around four months. An update on February 28 said around 40 per cent of the total pipe had been installed.

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