Campaigners took a stand last night to object to the picturesque Barn Elms playing fields being named as a potential ‘super-sewer’ entrance site.

Hundreds of residents raised their concerns at a public meeting to address the issue of why the Barn Elms greenfield site was currently being named by the water company as a preferred location for building the tunnel’s main drive shaft.

They also questioned the impact of a combined sewage overflow site on the foreshore, the affect the project would have on rowing clubs and numerous annual boat races, and the levels of disruption construction work would cause to residents.

Louise de Silva, a spokeswoman for objection group Stop the Shaft, which is made up of Barnes and Putney residents, said: “There are so many people working really hard to fight these plans, we are all exhausted from weeks of campaigning.

"We won’t give up until we know we’ve done everything we can to ensure that Barn Elms is protected and a more suitable site is chosen.”

Putney MP Justine Greening added: “The tunnel is something that we will need. But the proposals are unacceptable.

“If this goes ahead, residents are going to be living across the road from a building site. What we have to do is make Thames Water understand why the Barn Elms site is inappropriate.”

The meeting at St Mary’s Church, Putney, comes ahead of a similar public meeting that will be held at Trinity Church, Castelnau, on Thursday.

Next week’s meeting in Barnes will start at 8pm and will be attended by Richmond Park MP Zac Goldsmith.