MP Alan Milburn was unable to visit his constituency yesterday, as he had to vote in the House of Commons on key Government reform bills - including Foundation Hospitals.
He was due to open the Broken Scar drinking water treatment works in Darlington, which have undergone a four-year improvement programme, which has cost £22m and has been carried out without interruption to supply.
The works can treat up to 180 million litres of water a day and supplies 300,000 homes in Darlington and Teesside together with large industrial Tees Valley users.
The refurbished Samaritans' Woodland Road centre was also due to be officially opened by the MP, as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations.
The £166,000 revamp is thanks to a National Lottery grant and £12,000 raised by the branch. It has enabled work to be carried out to make the centre wheelchair- accessible.
A spokesman for Mr Milburn said: "It is really regrettable that he cannot be in Darlington today. He is aware of how significant both projects are.
"He will do the plaque unveiling at another time and visit both the water treatment works and the revamped Samaritans centre."
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