Zane Gbangbola: Flood death parents in Christmas plea to PM

The family handed in a 117,000-name petition to Downing Street calling for an independent inquiry

The family of a boy aged seven who died during floods in Surrey in 2014 have written to the prime minister after their plea for an inquiry was refused.

Zane Gbangbola's parents had delivered a 117,000-name petition calling for an inquiry to Downing Street in October.

They say gases from a former tip killed their son, and dispute the 2016 inquest which said his death was accidental.

The government said it would respond to the letter and their thoughts remained with the family.

Zane's parents, Kye Gbangbola and Nicole Lawler, said: "This will be the ninth Christmas we have faced without our son and it never gets any easier."

They said it would take "a stroke of the pen for Rishi Sunak to put an independent panel inquiry into motion and help us and give our son the only gift we can possibly now give him, the answers, truth and justice that is the least he deserves".

'Evidence needed'

The couple have said hydrogen cyanide gas from a former Chertsey waste dump killed their son and left his father paralysed.

The inquest said that Zane died from carbon monoxide from a pump used to clear flood water, but his parents have always said the pump was not in use.

The family have raised concerns over hydrogen cyanide readings that were taken in their house, the attendance of Porton Down at their home in 2014 and claims that have been made of illegal chemical dumping in the area.

Public Health England papers on the hydrogen cyanide readings were shown to Spelthorne Borough Council, which called for an inquiry - but the authority later said it could not go further without first seeing fresh evidence.

The BBC approached the Cabinet Office and Downing Street for comment but the query was passed to Defra.

A spokesman for the department said: "This is a tragic case and our thoughts remain with the Gbangbola family.

"Throughout the inquest the Environment Agency provided detailed evidence to assist the independent coroner in reaching his conclusions."

Zane Gbangbola died at the age of seven during floods in Chertsey in 2014

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