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Sewer misery several weeks after flooding
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| Michael Hobbs |
The flood nightmare continues for residents of one street who are still seeing raw sewage making a regular appearance weeks after flooding gripped the borough.
Residents of Montague Road warned Thames Water almost seven weeks ago that a sewer running down the back of the Richmond street was about to burst after looking inside and finding the level of waste had risen.
On July 20, residents were proved right when the sewer erupted after the heavy rainfall and flooded two basements in houses on the road.
Michael Hobbs, from number 16, said: "Since then, every three or four days the sewer that is still blocked overflows and leaks into my garden. Thames Water do not seem interested in fixing it."
The foul problem has become repetitive for Michael, who said he has to "scream and shout" at Thames Water to ensure they attend and pump out the sewer every time the raw sewage escapes.
"They won't schedule a pump out even though there's a pattern. Two weeks ago they sent someone out to put a camera down it, but the camera broke down. They said they would come back later but they never did.
"The sewage comes within two inches of the wall of the house and my fear is that it will come inside," he added.
According to Michael, one of the properties flooded in July is still "uninhabitable" as Thames Water have not yet come to disinfect the property. He said the young couple renting there have since found another home and moved out of the street.
The owner of the other property was forced to clean the basement out himself.
In response to a raft of residents' complaints about flooding, Conservative councillors are calling for Thames Water to come clean and make their flood prevention plans for the borough public.
Coun David Marlow said he was surprised to be told by Richmond upon Thames Council that they "were not party to Thames Water's prevention programme".
He added: "This was the response I received when I inquired about the prevention of flooding along Strawberry Vale and Cross Deep in Twickenham.
"It is time the council worked with Thames Water to come up with a solution."
A spokeswoman for Thames Water said on Wednesday: "I can confirm that we will be undertaking a CCTV survey inside the sewer tomorrow morning to identify any issues that may be causing the sewer to leak at 16 Montague Road."
A council spokesman said: "While we do work closely with Thames Water on a number of issues, flooding is an area in which we and other local authorities are pressing for greater cooperation.
"We would welcome any opportunity to meet them and discuss how we can improve flood safety even further in this borough."
8:00am Saturday 1st September 2007
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