Clean-up underway in Newport Road after six weeks flooded by sewage

The heavy downpours in recent weeks caused the local sewage system to become overwhelmed and foul water began flooding from drains into gardens of several properties in the street.
One resident, Lin Gourlay (pictured, right, three weeks ago with neighbour Odge Wayman), also had the contaminated water seep into her home causing her daughter and pet dogs to become unwell.
This week, Thames Water said that following the subsiding water levels after the recent dry weather, the clean-up operation could finally begin, with work to assess the drainage system also due to take place on Monday.
A spokeswoman for Thames Water, Sarah Sharpe, said: “Now the surface water has reduced we’re focusing our efforts on cleaning up the area and helping our customers get their lives back to normal.
“By Monday we’re also hoping water levels inside the sewer network will have lowered enough for us to be able to clean the pipes and put cameras down to survey their condition.
“We’ve a team on standby ready to start this work as soon as it is possible.”
Resident Jo Berridge confirmed yesterday (Wednesday) that someone was on site forming the first stages of the clean-up operation, but said that she still felt the street had been ignored.
She said that at the weekend, rats had also been spotted in the gardens of those affected.
“The waters have subsided so there’s now no water in any of our gardens, so that’s a positive,” she said yesterday (Wednesday). “I’m positive because they have brought the cleaning forward, they are starting today. We were getting frustrated that we were just forgotten about.
“People were getting quite cross that nothing was being done. In other areas they had been given information about grants that were available for the vulnerable.
“We have got a 90-year-old living in the street [who] hadn’t been considered.
“We were not getting any help at all. There’s still a bit of frustration and anger there.”