Family's horror as 'raw sewage with excrement and tampons' surrounds house
A dad has said his garden has been flooded with raw sewage containing "toilet paper, excrement and tampons" four times in the last few months.
Gilbert Jones, who lives in Hinckley, Leicestershire, said his family is "on constant alert" and "dreads it" every time there is heavy rain. If they hear the upstairs toilet "gurgle", they know floods are likely, he added.
The problem, which has been ongoing for around a decade, is getting worse and he claimed he has had to call Severn Trent out four times in the last few months.
Mr Jones, who lives with his wife Julia and two daughters Tia, 24, and Carla 20, said he has had to install a stepping stone to be able to get in and out of the front door when the sewage strikes, and his neighbours have resorted to dragging a picnic bench from the garden to the front door to climb over the sewage when the floods come.
The family complained that it has had to constantly contact Severn Trent about the floods and claims that when the company does send someone out, it is generally days later when the flood has receded. Mr Jones alleged that the root cause of the problem has not been investigated.
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A family have told how sewage surrounds their house during flooding (Gilbert Jones)He and his wife said that the water company did identify a blockage during Christmas last year and cleared it, but that hasn't stopped the problem. The only reason the house doesn't flood inside is because they have a rainwater drain that they have to clear when it floods with sewage, they told LeicestershireLive.
Mr Jones said he had a hip replacement last October and couldn't get out during his recuperation because of the sewage problem. They also have a dog who they can't let out when the floods come.
Mr Jones said they dread it when there is heavy rain (Gilbert Jones)He said: "Severn Trent are slow to respond but do eventually come to clean up but only after persistent phone calls. I don't feel Severn Trent are doing enough to rectify the problems. Investigations have shown the problem to be in the main sewer and not our branch. Our house and two neighbours flood as our gardens are lower than others in the area.
"Some work was carried out on the main sewer in 2020 and a blockage cleared Christmas 2023 but this hasn't stopped the floods and Severn Trent are still investigating. However it is extremely difficult to get answers and information from them. Personally I think the sewer system on our estate is inadequate for the number of houses that are being added to the system.
Mr Jones said that the problem is getting worse (Gilbert Jones)"We feel Severn Trent are going through the motions and not really putting any effort into finding the problem. To quote from the Post Office series - we're the little people and not very important. We have really kept at them this time with repeated emails, but we seem unable to escalate it."
Alex Cooney, waste team leader at Severn Trent said: "We're sorry to customers who have experienced sewer flooding in their gardens. We removed a blockage from the local network, however the extreme weather in January caused further flooding. Our teams are reviewing what works can be undertaken to prevent this from happening again."
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