Rainham residents fear health crisis as urgent Launders Lane meeting to be held tonight.

As people across Havering wake up and drink their coffee, residents in Rainham are wearing masks inside their own homes due to the high level of smoke billowing out from the Arnold Field site.

Over the last few weeks, the fires have increased and our firefighters from across all parts of London have been repeatedly tackling the ongoing fires at the site.

Driving on the A1306, on most days, you will see multiple fire engines parked on the side of the road, and firefighters sitting on the pavement with their heads in their hands after hours of battling these blazes.

People living near the area are now at a crisis point where they cannot deal anymore with the endless stream of consequences that these fires bring. They cannot open their windows, they sit in doors wearing masks to protect themselves from the fumes, children on their last week of school holidays, cannot play outside due to the level of smoke.

If you visit the site, within minutes of being there, not only are you faced with the obvious smoke smell, but you can also taste the toxic air as you speak. Residents are reporting, asthma, itchy eyes, headaches, children coughing non stop, the list is long.

Tonight, at 7pm, an urgent meeting is being held at the Harris Academy for residents to come together and address these fires in the hope that their voices are heard.The meeting is being hosted by Mark from the Launders Lane crisis group, who will share vital information he has gained with local residents.

This is a health crisis for people living in Rainham.

Rainham ward councillor Sue Ospreay has being working non stop with Mark from the crisis group and local residents in a bid to help solve this problem after nearly two decades of these fires burning. She has been there to support the many residents impacted by the fires and also hopes that tonight’s meeting might, at last, bring some much needed action to this situation.

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