THAMES Water bosses say land the company has been working on in Taw Hill will be back to full use early in the New Year.

The water company has spent much of 2014 installing two large sewage tanks just off Queen Elizabeth Drive to reduce flood risk in the area and increase the capacity of the system ahead of the Tadpole Farm housing development.

Work was set to finish this month but due to the reasonably good weather it was all done by November.

There is currently bare land where the tanks have been fitted but Thames Water and the contractor Optimise, say they will plant new grass seeds in the spring when it is more likely to grow.

Rachel Groves, an engagement manager for Optimise, said: “Things have actually gone really well and we have been able to move off earlier than expected. We were scheduled to be finished this month but we had everything clear by November.

“All we have left to do now is sow the grass but we can’t do that at the moment otherwise it wouldn’t grow.

“Several trees have been planted and there is protection for newts.

“When it is all back you will hardly notice we have been here.”

When Thames Water first announced plans for the two tanks, many residents were angry about the work.

However, Rachel says people were very understanding once the work began.

She said: “I want to thank everyone for their patience since we have been here.

“We have kept in contact with people to let them know exactly what has been going on.

“We were able to let the children of some residents on to the site to have a closer look at what was going on, which was nice.”

The two large tanks are now entirely underground and only a few access points are visible.

During a period of heavy rain the tanks will be able to store excess water in the sewer system to prevent flooding.

There have been concerns the tanks will increase the risk of flooding, and create a smell, but Thames Water and Optimise say this is not the case.

Rachel said: “Most of the time they won’t be in use at all They will only be used when there is heavy rain.

“The tanks will hold the water until the system is clear and then let the water back out.

“Any smell would be created by stuff left behind but these have been designed to automatically clean themselves so there will be nothing left.”