Zane Gbangbola: Councillors raise motion over boy's flood death

A petition calling for an independent panel inquiry has reached nearly 110,000 signatures

Calls for a full inquiry into the death of a seven-year-old boy during floods in Chertsey have come from opposition members of Spelthorne council.

A motion has claimed Zane Gbangbola's death was not adequately dealt with and that "crucial" evidence was ignored.

Zane's parents said he was poisoned by gases washed out of a former landfill site behind their Surrey home in 2014.

An inquest ruled he died from carbon monoxide poisoning from a petrol-powered pump in the home.

Independent councillor Ian Beardsmore said he proposed the motion after seeing some of the evidence gathered by the family, and after a former Ministry of Defence engineer made allegations to the BBC about chemical waste dumping in the area.

Mr Beardsmore, who served on Spelthorne's planning committee for 27 years and Surrey's planning committee for 16 years, said he had been given accounts of other historic chemical dumping incidents in Sunbury, near Chertsey.

He said Surrey had one of the best gravel beds in Europe and had been left with many gravel pits that were "filled with anything", adding: "The waste industry back in the 1970s was almost totally unregulated."

Zane's parents said they were waiting for the outcome of the council motion

Zane's parents, Kye Gbangbola and Nicole Lawler, said their fight had continued for nearly as long as their son had been alive.

Mr Gbangbola said: "I don't know if this is a stunt. We have always said to our councillors and politicians 'you are what you do, not what you say'. Let's wait and see what happens."

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The couple believe the inquest into their son's death, which concluded in September 2016, was flawed.

Zane's death was attributed by the coroner to carbon monoxide poisoning from a petrol-powered pump used by the couple to clear floodwater, which they insist was not in use.

They believe a former landfill site behind their home in Chertsey was the source of hydrogen cyanide gas, which was forced up and out of the earth by the "piston effect" of the swollen river raising the level of the water table underground, and it was this gas that killed Zane.

Chertsey was hit by devastating floods in 2014

The couple's campaign for an inquiry has been backed by senior Labour politicians including leader Keir Starmer, Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham and Richard Burgon, and ex-Green Party leader Baroness Natalie Bennett.

Unions including the FBU have backed the family, while a petition has been signed by nearly 110,000 people.

A spokeswoman for Spelthorne confirmed the authority would hold an extraordinary meeting next Thursday when the motion will be considered.

Spelthorne Borough Council has previously accepted the coroner's findings.

Coroner Richard Travers, as an independent member of the judiciary, has not commented on the case.

The authority was left under no overall control in June after six councillors left the Conservatives.

The Tories remain the largest group with 17 councillors but opposition groups total 22.