IT WAS a nightmare start to the new year for one Redditch family – raw sewage, including human waste – coming up through a pipe just by their the back door.
Horrified, Adam and Susan Hill telephoned water giant Severn Trent to repair it as an emergency.
They promised they would come – but failed to show up.
“Susan telephoned right away,” said Adam, who is registered disabled.
“They even said they were on their way, but no one arrived.”
In the end the couple’s son Steve had to scrape the mess up and put it in buckets just so they could open the back door.
“We were scared it was going to get into the kitchen,” said Adam, who added this was not the first time they’d had the problem at their Beoley Road East home.
“Both Redditch Borough Council and Severn Trent know about this problem.
“We used to be insured for it but we’ve lost so much stuff we can’t get insurance for it anymore, it’s too dear.
“Then on Sunday for it to happen again, it was absolutely disgusting – we were terrified it was going to get in the house again.”
In desperation the couple contacted the Redditch Standard to tell us their story.
A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “We’re really sorry for the time it’s taken for our teams to visit.
“Due to a high volume of jobs, our teams have to prioritise any internal flooding reports first, but again, we’re really sorry about this as we know how distressing any kind of flooding can be.
“It will be our absolute priority to fully investigate the sewer network to understand what’s caused the flooding.”
• Severn Trent advises householders not to flush wipes and sanitary products down toilets to help avoid blockages.
