Family horror at sewage flooding

House owner, Christine Nielsen, was shocked to find three feet of waste water and human excrement in her garage after heavy rainfall last week.

Having just moved in to Mill View Road, Sidley, six weeks ago, household appliances such as the washing machine and cooker were being stored in the garage.

The contents of the building are no longer usable for health reasons.

The family has also lost items of sentimental value such as Christine's antique pram dating from the 1950s and 2,500 of Star Wars memorabilia collected by her 21-year-old son, David.

The family is unlikely to recover the losses as their outbuildings insurance has a maximum pay-out of 4,000.

It is thought the flooding came from a manhole on the drive of the property.

The Nielsens are furious after discovering from neighbours the flooding is a regular occurrence.

They claim a worker from Southern Water said he hadhosed the garage on 10 separate occasions in the past because of leaks.

Christine says she is desperate to find a solution to the problem.

The family, which also includes Christine's daughters Illona, nine Zoe, 29, and 84-year-old mother Lillian, cannot use the living room because of the smell from the nearby garage.

Christine said: "At first when I noticed it at night I thought it was just water but when I got up the next day I realised it was raw sewage.

"Everything is contaminated because there is sewage all over it. It probably came up to about three feet in the garage.

"It is not just the money - cookers and washing machines and things can be bought again but there is stuff of sentimental value we can't replace."

A spokesman for Southern Water pledged this week the company would fix the problem.

They said: "Since September last year there were three incidents and before that a five year gap.

"We recognised something needed to be done so in the summer we installed a 'flap' that would protect the sewer in Mill View Road from being inundated by heavy rainfall.

"We can see that hasn't worked properly so the contractors are now going to go and fix it.

"It is a preventative measure."

The spokesman said Southern Water would try to ensure the flooding would not happen again.

They added: "What I would ask them to do is tell us if there is more flooding.

"Call us and we will try to do something about it."