Contaminated Ground Water Continues To Flow Down Towards The Village

1st July 2026

The groundworks recently carried out by West Northamptonshire Council  (WNC) Highways just below the A45 on the Daventry direction slip road, were the culmination of nearly two years of negotiation involving several departments within WNC.

The source of the sewage contamination has still not been identified, with dye testing of nearby septic tank outputs failing to produce any demonstrable results. The groundworks have contained the contaminated groundwater which was previously flowing down the road, instead diverting it away in a new easterly running ditch. At a point close to the yellow salt bin, the ditch passes under the Weedon direction slip road through an existing culvert which had previously been blocked. As a result a pool of contaminated groundwater is now present at the excavated exit point of the culvert, alongside the surfaced footway leading from the village up to the A45.

Not surprisingly with a constant incoming flow, the contaminated water is now seeping out under the tarmac footway and the banking below, before emerging onto the lane above the village. Concerns remain about the associated health hazards and how this arrangement will cope with the rainfall and high ground water levels expected in the Autumn and Winter, hence negotiations are ongoing with WNC.