The village flooded by 'rivers of sewage' after it tripled in size without the infrastructure to cope

• e-mail

Furious residents in an 'over-developed' village are having to watch their streets become flooded by 'rivers of sewage' due to overflowing blocked drains.

Locals in Drakes Broughton, Worcestershire, say an influx of newbuild houses has left their sewage system and infrastructure - which 'dates back to the 1960s ' - unable to cope.

They claim their village had tripled in size in the last 10 years due to the hundreds of properties built in the area and the additional wastewater now runs down their streets from the clogged-up pipes into their homes and gardens.

Disgusted homeowners along Stonebow Road, where house prices average over £400,000, are now demanding action is taken over the 'serious health hazard'.

Neighbours claim school children have been walking and cycling through human faeces which has been spilling into a water course and pets have also been falling ill.

Bungalow owners have also complained about contaminated water 'coming through the walls' while the ongoing stench makes them ashamed to have visitors around.

Water company Severn Trent says the area's sewage systems are getting blocked by debris and bricks filtering from third-party developments.

But as work continues to build more properties in the area, locals say their village's infrastructure simply cannot sustain more housing.

Locals in Drakes Broughton, Worcestershire, say an influx of newbuild houses has left their sewage system and infrastructure unable to cope with the extra demand.

Residents say additional wastewater now runs down their streets and into their homes and gardens.

Michelle Phillips, 57, says the pipes in the village are 'not designed to cope with this

Mum-of-three Michelle Phillips, 57, an admin worker, added: 'We've lived her for 19 years when it was a village - now it has tripled in size and is more like a town.

Read More

Fury as raw sewage 'from 100 homes is dumped into London's rivers'

'These developments have just kept cropping up, we've never know it so bad. There's raw sewage outside our doors. School children are getting splashed with it.

'In some cases, it's flowing into people's homes and gardens and more recently it's been going into a brook so its an environmental issue now too.

'I've heard of dogs falling ill, but who knows, people could be too. There's a foul smell of sewage lingering in the air all the time.

'I only spoke to the postman today and he says he always smells a sewage smell while delivering around here.

'The pipes date back to the 1960s - they were not designed to cope with this.

'But it's like banging your head against a brick wall, nothing seems to be getting done by anyone.

'If they want to continue developing the area here, it's imperative they build new infrastructure or at least update what's already here.

Locals claim their village had tripled in size in the last 10 years due to the hundreds of properties built in the area

Water company Severn Trent says the area's sewage systems are getting blocked by debris and bricks filtering from third-party developments

'But we've not seen any benefit from all this funding that's going in to the local area. The village hall got a bit of a makeover, but that was it.

Read More

Bonuses for water company bosses increase to £9.1m despite sewage spills more than doubling

'It tends to me a mix of affordable housing, social housing and houses people can buy - they just continually throw them up.

'We're seriously contemplating about moving out of the area now.'

Local resident and parish councillor Ruth Bessant added: 'The issue stems from Wychavon Council not having a five year housing land supply so they are just approving all applications

'We're not NIMBYs, we're not against development, we just need infrastructure to sustain it.

'We started off as a 1960s village but there's two 100 house plus major developments gone up and then there's an extra 50 here and another 75 there.

'We were surrounded by countryside and orchards and now the village is just getting bigger and bigger and they've got to draw a line under it somewhere.

'We've had human sewage running down the street and burst water mains leaving us without any water - residents are saying enough is enough.

Disgusted homeowners along Stonebow Road, where house prices average over £400,000, are now demanding action is taken over the 'serious health hazard'

Neighbours claim school children have been walking and cycling through human faeces which has been spilling into a water course and pets have also been falling ill

As work continues to build more properties in the area, locals say their village's infrastructure simply cannot sustain more housing

'There's the issue of contamination too, people have said their dogs have been falling ill, we're concerned its an environmental health matter too.'

Read More

Three water companies face £168m of fines over sewage failures

Another homeowner Jayne Thomas, 66, said: 'It's absolutely awful. You get toilet paper running down the street and human waste, it's not pleasant at all.

'We've always had some issues with the drains in Drakes Broughton but since all these houses kept going up, it's only got worse and worse.

'The drains can't cope, especially when it rains and something definitely needs to be done as it's got to be a health hazard.

'School children walk that way and are treading through it or cycling through it - it probably just looks like dirty water to them.

'There's even more homes being built as we speak opposite the school so it's only going to get even worse.'

When the neighbourhood plan was being drafted by neighbours in 2013, they agreed to more than 50 additional houses.

But since then, residents claim they have seen around 350 new houses built from various developments over the years.

Homeowner Jayne Thomas, 66, said that 'toilet paper and human waste' was regularly seen running down the street 

A manhole where sewage overflows on Stonebow Road in Drakes Broughton

Dad-of-three Dean Pugh, 56, said: 'We're not against these newbuilds, families need somewhere to live but they aren't fit for purpose.

'I have a mate living in one and he's got no end of drainage issues himself. They just can't cope and it absolutely stinks.

'One woman living in a bungalow had contaminated waste flooding into her property, through the bricks. It's coming through the walls. It's disgusting.

'Sometimes its not flowing through the manholes but findings it way out elsewhere and getting into properties by some other means.

'They cannot keep developing at this rate - but I suppose money talks. Somebody at the top is allowing this to happen without a care for the residents.'

Martin Boniface, who lives in the village, said on several occasions toilet paper and faeces have floated down Stonebow Road this year.

He added: 'Foul sewage is being forced out of the manholes and is going down the road where children walk and where there is a water system.

'The infrastructure is already on its knees and we do not need further developments to escalate the issue. It makes the village less pleasant.'

Dad-of-three Dean Pugh, 56, said house builders in the area 'cannot keep developing at this rate'

A Severn Trent spokesperson said the company was 'working directly with the developer to help improve their processes and safeguard the local sewer network'

Daniel Hicks, regional waste team manager at Severn Trent, said: 'Our team have investigated the recent flooding issues on Stonebow Road and found they have been caused by debris and bricks from a third-party developer entering the sewer system and forming a blockage.

Read More

EXCLUSIVE

Britain's WORST beach which has the highest level of poo in water than anywhere else in UK

'While we have removed the blockages and cleansed the sewers each time, this is a recurring problem with more debris entering the sewer.

'We will be working directly with the developer to help improve their processes and safeguard the local sewer network so that this problem doesn't reoccur.

'In the meantime, we are conducting regular inspections of the sewers on Stonebow Road and will continue to remove any debris that has accumulated to keep the system flowing freely.'

Vic Allison, chief executive of Wychavon District Council, said: 'We're aware of the concerns raised by residents in Drakes Broughton regarding sewage issues affecting the area.

'We are fully committed to working alongside residents, Severn Trent Water and other agencies to understand and address these issues as a priority.

'We recently met with Severn Trent Water and Drakes Broughton Parish Council to discuss the residents' issues, and a further meeting is being arranged.

'While we are highly concerned about the sewage and wastewater issues in Drakes Broughton, it is important to recognise that we, as a local planning authority, have limited powers to stop developments from being built.

'We have opposed developments by issuing several refusals, but this has resulted in us losing appeals against those decisions with costs awarded for unreasonable behaviour.

'We will continue to listen, support and engage with our residents.'

Elan Homes and Sanctuary Homes have declined to comment after claiming the blockages are not caused by their previous developments.

Hayfield Homes were also contacted for comment but have not yet provided a response.

The Environment Agency said they were not directly involved with this incident.