An independent business owner says he has been threatened with court action by Southern Water if he does not let workers onto his property.
Steve Goodridge, 67, has run Allington Nursery and Garden Centre on Allington Lane for the last 42 years.
He has been left infuriated by two bouts of flooding he believes were caused by Southern Water works linking up a sewage main for the One Horton Heath development.
He is now refusing to let the company have access to his property to finish the work as a second flood has caused more damage.
Steve said: “We’ve let Southern Water put their welfare buildings on our site, the toilets, the materials, everything. Now they’ve threatened me with a court order if I don’t let workers on by Thursday.
“This is the big boy wielding his stick over the little person.
“The last few days we’ve hardly slept as a family. You’re laying in bed all night thinking what can I do? When something like this gets into your head, it doesn’t go away.”
The utility company told the Echo that it has issued a statutory notice to get access to his private property and that this is standard practice.
As reported, Steve had to close for three days last week due to flooding.
But now he says that more than £10,000 worth of plants and wooden furniture was damaged by water that entered his stock sheds on Monday December 2.
“It’s all water damaged, and it’ll have to be sold off for cheap. I’m going to lose thousands on this stock," he said.
Steve says he believes Southern Water caused the flooding by leaving pipes in a water gully that usually takes rain on Allington Lane away from his front doors.
He believes these pipes diverted the water onto his property, and is now refusing to let workers into his car park to finish up the work.
A Southern Water spokesperson said: “Our team has a meeting scheduled with Mr Goodridge this week to discuss the works needed for a sewer connection for the new local housing development. We need access to Mr Goodridge’s car park for the connection to be completed.
“We have said to Mr Goodridge that we will cover all substantiated costs that ensure security of the affected car park area and reinstate as before. We have served a statutory notice, which is standard practice for all intention of works and future plans.”
But Steve said he has been "less than impressed" by the "threats" he has received from the utility company.
Steve previously told the Echo that he fears his family business – which opened in 1922 – may not be able to financially survive further disruption.
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Southern Water has now opened Allington Lane with temporary traffic lights aiding traffic, and Steve said that business is finally starting to pick up again.
“We probably had 15-20 people buy a Christmas tree off of us purely because they have read what has gone on, and they’ve come here for the very first time to support us,” Steve said.
“I appreciate it and I want to thank all of those people and let them know how thankful the family is for their support.”
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