Mum calls for estate clean-up

ANGRY mum Rachel Fortin is leading a campaign to clean up her Sutton housing estate because she is fed up with her children going to school covered in mud. She claims her son, 12-year-old James, arrives at Witchford Village College with mud caked on his s

ANGRY mum Rachel Fortin is leading a campaign to clean up her Sutton housing estate because she is fed up with her children going to school covered in mud.

She claims her son, 12-year-old James, arrives at Witchford Village College with mud caked on his shoes and halfway up his trousers.

Her daughter Hannah, 10, slipped on the footpath and Mrs Fortin is so worried that she will get hurt she walks with her along the short distance from their home in St Andrew's Close to Sutton Primary School.

In desperation, she collected 32 signatures on a petition demanding developer Reason Homes clean up the estate where work is expected to continue for the next 18 months.

Mrs Fortin acknowledged that a road sweeper visits the estate every Saturday morning but claims this does not go far enough.

"The footpaths are never pressure-washed and mums walking children to school with pushchairs are finding them so clogged with mud the wheels won't go round," she said.

Reason Homes director, David Wyatt, said the company had not received Mrs Fortin's petition but would immediately investigate the problem.

Cleaning on the estate was carried out by contractors and Mr Wyatt promised to check that the job was being carried out thoroughly.

He said: "I would never ignore correspondence but we have made thorough checks throughout the company and this petition was never received.

"I will be addressing this matter immediately by speaking to the building manager, site foreman and contractors.

"I will also be dropping into the site on a Saturday morning to check on the road sweeping.