Watch out for the 'poo-nami': Enraged locals in a village plagued by sewage ... trends now
Enraged locals in a village which is plagued by sewage spills have been dubbed the 'Berkshire Banksys' over hilarious signs venting their fury.
The group of anonymous residents are taking action over polluted water in Hampstead Norreys.
One sign warns drivers to keep their speed low to avoid splashes in the 'Poo-nami' area - while another has changed Water Street to 'Sewage Street'.
The signs have been praised as a typically British method of protest.
But the humour is intended to highlight the problem of residents being regularly splashed with sewage in the street by passing cars.
It comes after fed up villagers in Lambourn, Berkshire - where the Great British Bake Off is filmed - also said they have been forced to wade through filth.
Enraged locals in a village which is plagued by sewage spills have been dubbed the 'Berkshire Banksys' over hilarious signs venting their fury, including this 'Poo Nami' one
The humour is intended to highlight instead of detract from the local sewage spills, where residents complain they're regularly splashed with sewage in the street by passing cars
A sign put up by frustrated locals in the village of Hampstead Norreys in Berkshire
Steve Masters, a Green Party Town Councillor in Newbury and the Party's Parliamentary candidate for upcoming elections in Newbury, lives in a narrowboat along the river
Steve Masters, who lives on a narrowboat moored on the Kennet River in nearby Newbury, compared locals wading through sewage to Dickensian or Victorian standards of living.
The 54-year-old RAF veteran, who is also a local councillor for the Green Party and will be standing as the party's parliamentary candidate in upcoming general elections, said: 'The signs are there to draw attention to these problems.
'They reflect the collective mind of the residents. It's frustration manifesting itself in a very creative and typically British defiance.
'I know many people have shed tears over this - it's not a laughing matter.
'But when the chips are down, people do find some solace in humour.'
The signs in Hampstead Norreys include some placed along the River Pang, which runs through the village, reading: 'More species less faeces.'
The veteran added: 'This is one of only 210 chalk streams on Earth - a unique habitat for many species. Keep pollution out.'
The signs in Hampstead Norreys include some placed along the River Pang, which runs through the village, reading: 'More species less faeces.'
Another sign has been changed Water Street to 'Sewage Street' (pictured)
Another sign at the side of a road warns drivers to keep to ten miles an hour, saying: 'This is not rainwater, it is sewage - no splash zone.'
Mr Masters, a councillor for Speenhamland on Newbury Town Council who now works in renewable energy sales, said the problem of sewage spills in the area was not new.
'A lot of Thames Water's sewage is finding its way onto roads and into chalk streams,' the grandfather-of-three said.
'This is not something that has just happened - it has been going on for months and years but is now becoming more and more frequent and longer lasting.
'These are biodiverse, nationally and globally significant chalk streams and special habitats.
'Some people have had faeces, tampons and sanitary products on their road since before Christmas.
'It's a public health hazard. Four members of one family in Hampstead Norreys have been in hospital with sickness as a cause of the sewage that has infiltrated their house.
Fed up villagers in Lambourn, Berkshire, have ALSO erected a 's**t show' sign mocking Thames Water after sewage began to churn up from drains
Children have been walking through the stinking water to get to school, while passing cars churn up the filth, which has also been killing plants and wildlife in Lambourn
Health warning signs about the flow of raw sewage were erected in Lambourn village
Total hours water companies in England leaked sewage into rivers, lakes and the sea in 2023
Water companies pumped raw sewage into British rivers and seas for a record four million hours last year, more than double than in 2022, new figures have revealed . Stock image
'It's an appalling state of affairs when children are walking to school through this.
'We are in the 21st Century, not Dickensian or Victorian Britain, yet people are having to walk through raw sewage in their homes and on their roads.
'At what stage does it become a public health crisis?'
Cllr Masters added that though Thames Water should take the brunt of the blame for the spills, regulatory authorities such as Ofwat and the Environment Agency need greater powers to encourage water companies to fix the problems.
He said: 'Thames Water are very much a part of this problem but a lot of this is down to the government and a lack of regulations from the authorities charged with policing
