A POND near the A3 tunnel site has become silted up after heavy rain washed down Nutcombe Valley. Passing motorist Bob Milton became concerned at the orange colour of the water in one of the small lakes near the southern portal and is concerned it may start to kill wildlife. Mr Milton, a landscape gardener, continued: "I was driving to a job in Grayshott when I saw it from the road. I stopped at the visitor site, but I couldn't get any answers as to why and what had happened." A Highways Agency spokesman told the Herald the discolouration is a result of very fine silt being washed down from the construction site following the recent, exceptionally heavy, rainfall. He said: "The silt has been exposed during construction of a road embankment to the tunnel portal. The Highways Agency and our contractor, Balfour Beatty, are working with the Environment Agency to develop control features to slow the flow of water and ensure that it is diverted into the new drainage channel we have constructed down the length of Nutcombe Valley."
