A 76-year-old Southfields woman has been hospitalised for the second time since building work began at Chanteroy’s new Replingham Road site, with the London Fire Brigade subsequently referring her to social services over concerns for her welfare.
Christine Walker spent six hours in St George’s A&E on Saturday evening after returning home to find her flat at 16A Replingham Road filled with fumes from flooring work in the commercial unit below.
When fumes were still present on Sunday morning, Ms Walker called the London Fire Brigade, who attended and referred her to social services. They told her the matter was “a job for Environmental Health”.
It was the second time construction at the site had resulted in hospitalisation. Ms Walker was admitted to A&E on 29 August 2025 with an upper respiratory infection following weeks of exposure to brick dust from demolition work.
Ms Walker said no dust extractors were provided during the demolition work and none of the usual protective measures were in place when brick walls were taken down.
The problems continued through the Christmas period, with Ms Walker cancelling Christmas Day with her family on 24 December due to paint fumes in the flat.
The latest incident occurred on Saturday 10 January when Ms Walker returned home at 6pm to find her flat filled with what she described as overwhelming fumes from flooring adhesive being used downstairs. She called 111 for medical advice and was sent to St George’s Hospital, where she remained until 2.15am.
Wandsworth Environmental Health attended on Saturday but took no enforcement action.
“One department after another, it’s down to this one, it’s down to that one,” Ms Walker told Putney.news. “That’s what’s been going on for the last 20 weeks.”
The property at 16-18 Replingham Road is being converted from the former Barclays Bank into a second location for French deli Chanteroy, which we reported in December is part of a wave of new businesses arriving on the street.
Christophe Grison, who owns both Chanteroy and the Replingham Road property, said work began on 19 August following a 90-minute meeting with Ms Walker on 8 August to explain the plans. He said the flooring work on 10 January used only natural hard wax oil rather than toxic adhesive, and that adequate ventilation was provided with all windows and doors open.
“I can assure you Mrs Walker was not exposed to toxic fumes from a floor adhesive,” Mr Grison wrote in his response to Putney.news. He said council inspections including Health and Safety at Work, Environmental Services and Building Control had confirmed the work complied with the Construction Code of Practice.
Mr Grison had previously written to Ms Walker in September offering to arrange cleaning services, temporary relocation and improved dust protection. In November, he confirmed no asbestos had been present during the work and promised completion before Christmas.
Ms Walker said she received no response after calling Mr Grison’s office on Saturday evening asking him to witness the conditions in her flat. She said the site manager has hung up the phone on her during previous attempts to communicate about the problems.
Environmental Health has visited the site multiple times since August, including shortly after Ms Walker’s first hospitalisation, but has no taken any enforcement action. The department declined to comment when approached by Putney.news.
Wandsworth Building Control and Planning departments have also not responded to queries.
The second half of the flooring is scheduled to be completed today, Friday, followed by six more weeks of drilling. Ms Walker said she has “nowhere to go” and is “broken” after five months of disruption.
“Every time someone has been around for the past few months, it has been ‘only another two weeks,'” she told Putney.news. “It’s been five months.”
Although the facade is modern, the building and flat are old with little to no barrier or insulation between the shop and the flat above which retains its original floorboards, complete with gaps. Open windows and doors provide ventilation for the work site, but extractor fans and sealed barriers are needed to prevent the dust and fumes from entering the flat above, neither of which have been used since August.
“You imagine not having a home that you can rest in,” Ms Walker told us. “You just don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
