'She needs to get her facts straight': Brian May slams Rachel Johnson in row over London mega-basements after she said it was 'amusing' that he complained about his £7m mansion being flooded by sewage
Queen guitarist Brian May has blasted Boris Johnson's sister after she said it was 'amusing' that he complained his London mansion was flooded by sewage.
Rachel Johnson mocked May for blaming flooding damage in his £7million Kensington home on 'all the basement building' in the area - when it was 'his own mega double basement' that was destroyed.
But the rockstar, 73, hit back, saying his lower-ground level came with the property and would not inflict the 'four-year hell' of installing a double basement on his neighbours.
May yesterday told of his 'horror' at finding the lower-ground room flooded with a sewage overflow which destroyed carpets, rugs and precious photos and memorabilia from over the years.
He posted a video on his Instagram to show the extent of the 'disgusting' damage, and said it was 'almost certainly the result of all the basement building that has been plaguing this area'.
Queen guitarist Brian May has blasted Boris Johnson's sister Rachel after she said it was 'amusing' that he complained his London mansion was flooded by sewage
The rockstar, 73, hit back, saying his lower-ground level came with the property and would not inflict the 'four-year hell' of installing a double basement on his neighbours
May yesterday told of his 'horror' at finding the lower-ground room flooded with a sewage overflow
Mr May blamed deep basement extensions that have been built for causing problems with drainage of excess water
In a tweet - which since appears to have been deleted - author and journalist Ms Johnson, 55, said: 'I hate double basements so much I wrote a whole novel - 'Notting Hell' - about them.
'Amusing, then, to see Brian May blames floods on the undoubted 'plague' of double basements in Kensington and Chelsea... from his own mega double basement.'
Kensington has seen 3,790 basement applications in ten years, with the sprawling structures blamed for Monday's 'biblical' flash flooding.
Three inches of rain in just 90 minutes made Monday the third wettest day for west London on record - with Kensington and Chiswick particularly hard hit.
Responding to the PM's sister, May - who is married to former Eastenders actress Anita Dobson, 72 - replied: 'I have no idea who Rachel Johnson is - but someone should tell her that if she's gonna be a clever tweet she needs to get her facts straight.
In 2018, May said the leafy borough of Kensington had become a 'hellhole' due to the amount of building work going on there
'I have never had a double basement, or even a single one. I have a lower ground floor which came with the house.
'If that needs explanation, it sits about half a floor below street level, while the upper ground floor sits just above it.
'That's the way these houses were designed in the last century.
'In contrast, many of the basements added over the last few years project two or even three stories into the ground and cause severe disruption to the water table and the area's ability to drain surface water.
'I would never put my neighbours through the four-year hell of adding a basement as an extension to an existing property.
'People who do this are a menace to decent residents.
'Kensington has been wrecked by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea policy of allowing these works to compromise our quality of life.
May and his wife Anita Dobson (pictured in 2016) have lost much of their memorabilia to the floods
'If you want to do some good in the world, Ms. Johnson, why don't you redirect your smart comments towards the borough council.'
Yesterday - along with sharing pictures of the damage - May blasted: 'After a nice day at The Royal Holloway College, we came back to horror in our house.
'The whole bottom floor had been inundated with a sewage overflow - which has covered our carpets, rugs and all kinds of precious things in a stinking sludge.
'It's disgusting, and actually quite heartbreaking. It feels like we were have been invaded, desecrated.
'Anita had a lifetime of memorabilia on the floor of our basement - and most of it is sodden and ruined.
'I had rescued all my most treasured childhood photo albums and scrapbooks from my studio house because it was threatened with a forest fire some months ago.
'Where did I put it all for safety? In the basement here in Kensington. Irony. Today it turned into a sodden mess.
'I'm devastated - this stuff is only "things" - but it feels like Back To The Future when the photograph fades - feels like a lot of my past has been wiped out. I'm angry!
'Historically, for 150 years, Kensington has never flooded due to rainwater. Why did this happen? It's almost certainly the result of all the basement building that has been plaguing this area for the past 10 years.
'The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council was warned years ago that sinking so many deep basement extensions would obstruct the aquifers underneath our living space and render the drainage system ineffective.'
A Kensington and Chelsea Council spokesperson said: 'Our priority is to make sure residents who have been affected by last night's flooding have the help they need.
'Since Monday evening we have placed 120 residents in emergency hotel accommodation and are making emergency repairs this morning.
'We are making welfare calls to vulnerable residents and have set up a centre at The Curve in North Kensington where Council officers are on hand to support people affected.
'Flash floods have affected boroughs across London after sudden and torrential rainfall.
Brian took to Instagram to rant about the matter
'This is causing damage and disruption across the city, not just here in Kensington and Chelsea and is not linked to basement building.'
Today, commuters were warned disruption to train services will carry on until tomorrow morning as urgent repairs are carried out after the flooding.
Trains in and out of London Euston will be affected so remaining water can be pumped away and cables damaged in the electrical fire can be fixed.
The work means all lines in and out of London Euston will be closed between 11pm tonight and 6am tomorrow.
These urgent repairs will hit Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern Railway, Caledonian Sleeper and London Overground passengers at the end of this evening and first thing on tomorrow morning.
Network Rail told passengers to travel early this evening to avoid the closure.
Ed Barry's Over Under Coffee office in Ladbrook Grove was submerged in water after the flash floods hit last night
Jacqui, 60, said her daughter had lost everything in the flooding and tens of thousands of pounds and was not insured
Bus replacement services will be in place, Network Rail added.
The work means all lines approaching and leaving the station will be closed between 11pm tonight and 6am tomorrow.
These urgent repairs will hit Avanti West Coast, London Northwestern Railway, Caledonian Sleeper and London Overground passengers at the end of this evening and first thing on tomorrow morning.
Network Rail told passengers to travel early this evening to avoid the closure.
Bus replacement services will be in place, Network Rail added.
James Dean, Network Rail's West Coast South route director, apologised for the disruption and said the floods 'made the railway look like a swimming pool'.
Daisy King posted the devastating damage to her home as the water managed to get in and flood her property
Asked whether he had escaped the flooding, Simon Cowell admitted today 'not really, my house nearly floated away'
He added: 'I'm sorry that your journeys have been disrupted this week. Our engineers will be making critical repairs on Wednesday night.
'The floods made the railway look like a swimming pool, but with 750 volts of electricity running through it.
'We've had to make the site safe before going in and pumping away the remaining flood water and repairing the fire damage.'
The last London Northwestern Railway service to go into Euston will be the 9.10pm from Northampton.
Picture of a manhole exploding during flooding in London yesterday on corner of Netheravon Rd and Chiswick High road
The mess dragged in from the water could be clearly seen in the devastating pictures, which were posted publicly online
This home in Maida Vale and its glass door showed exactly how much water had fallen in the capital yesterday evening
This London home saw the washing machine almost completely submerged by the flood water from the heavy rainfall
A motorist wades to safety after a freak flash flood submerged the road outside Westfield London on Monday evening
Storeholders around Portobello Road, West London start the clear up after torrential rain and flash flooding caused damage
The last Avanti West Coast services to arrive to Euston will be the 4.52pm from Edinburgh, leaving at 9.10pm from Birmingham New Street, 8.15pm from Manchester Piccadilly and 7.47pm form Liverpool Lime Street.
X Factor boss Simon Cowell's £15million mansion was hit by the devastating floods - which were yesterday blamed on sprawling super-basements.
The 61-year-old TV and music star was spotted wearing his trademark plain black T-shirt and white shorts outside his home yesterday.
Asked whether he had escaped the flooding, he admitted 'not really, my house nearly floated away'.
Sprawling super-basements dug beneath London's homes have been blamed for the flooding.
The enormous underground caverns - popular with the wealthy wanting to expand their space - were criticised by experts and victims of the massive leaks as they counted the cost of the weather.
Flooding expert and campaigner Mary Dhonau OBE told MailOnline flooding was caused by a jigsaw of different factors.
But the consultant, who has previously been chair of the National Flood Forum, said the rise of the 'super-basement' would have contributed.
Undeveloped grass and land can easily absorb heavy rain if and when it falls, soaking up the water like a sponge.
But if it has been removed it means there is nowhere for the liquid to go, causing flooding.
The study by Newcastle University found 4,650 basement have been approved for homes in London in just a decade
Plans for billionaire Foxtons founder Jon Hunt's basement at his £15million home on Kensington Palace Gardens
Ms Dhonau said: 'There has got to be somewhere for the water to go. When there is rain it falls onto the ground and percolates in areas of the ground. Super-basements are being built where the water would naturally percolate.
'There are other factors like climate change, but the more we take away permeable surfaces the more places will flood.
'North Kensington is a prime example of land that would have soaked up water, which is now being used for super basements.
'It is a jigsaw of things that can cause flooding. You can do things to make flooding more likely and one of those things is using more land for super-basements.'