Why we need to act NOW
UK floods demonstrate climate crisis
after 40 homes were flooded. And there are reports of overflows of sewage in 14 sites along its coast.
But the Met Office has warned there will be no let-up this weekend with “more rain to come”.
A major incident was declared in Hawick, in the Scottish Borders, when more than 500 houses were evacuated, and a swollen river destroyed two bridges in Dumfries and Galloway.
Locals in the Cumbrian village of Staveley, near Kendal, told of their horror as sewage swept along streets.
Mum-of-five Louise Edmondson said: “Every time it rains the sewage bubbles out of the drains, it’s disgusting. Last night I could hear an old lady up to her ankles in it. We have to avoid it and keep the children away, it’s so unhygienic, it’s only a few feet from our front door.”
Parish council chairman Arthur Capstick added: “The heavy rain resulted in at least three manholes discharging foul water on to the highway and into the nearby rivers.
“It is a totally unacceptable hazard to the health and wellbeing of our community and a danger to protected wildlife inhabiting our rivers.
“It is the 21st century, how can it be at all acceptable that we have raw sewage on our streets?”
Resident Alistair Kirkbride said: “Manholes become a fountain of poo and paper. It all runs down the street.”
Chris Edge told how he has reported the problem to United Utilities 30 times in the last five years. He added: “It doesn’t stop when the rain stops. It goes on for two or three days, covering the footpath where people walk.”
Water company United Utilities said it has been “liaising with residents of Staveley for a number of years to discuss the sewer flooding”.
It added: “We are calling on Government and regulators to authorise new investment and legislate for a stronger effort by local authorities and others on tackling the causes of sewers overloading.”
But it admitted it had “no major investment planned” at the village.
Eight miles away in Ambleside, locals fear flooding has exposed raw sewage in Windermere.
Wateredge Inn manager Paul
Hancock, 37, said the recent deluge has left the pub garden looking like
“part of the lake”.
He added: “But what is disgusting is the debris. People must have been dumping stuff in the lake. They say there is no sewage put into it but there is. I could see the
tissue coming out of the drain in our car park and flowing directly into the water.” Further north in Cockermouth, businesses were yesterday counting the cost of flooding after the River Derwent burst its banks. Alan and Gillian Jackson own two holiday lets and told how they have had to throw out carpets and skirting boards in a bid to dry out the properties.
Their tenants have had to leave and 60-year-old Alan said: “It will cost around £2,000 to repair and we’ve lost rent money.”
Locals living around Windermere recently warned the lake could become “ecologically dead” due to sewage in the water.
MPs last week voted against imposing a legal duty on water firms not to pump waste into rivers.
After an outcry, they were forced into a partial U-turn.
There will be a duty on companies to reduce the impact of sewage from storm overflows.