Raw sewage misery in St Mary Bourne (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Raw sewage misery in St Mary Bourne

3:00pm Sunday 2nd September 2012 in Local

RAW sewage has been coming up through manhole covers in St Mary Bourne, prompting calls for action from villagers.

Families are angry that they have been forced to hire portable loos after rising groundwater caused toilets to stop working in several homes.

The problems, which are unheard of in summertime, have developed despite Southern Water spending huge sums.

The company has been forced to deploy tankers around the clock to pump sewage from the system, providing temporary relief.

At the August meeting of |St Mary Bourne Parish Council members vowed to continue to press for action and at least get Southern Water to pay for residents’ portable toilets.

Council chairman Bridget Culley said: “It just isn’t on – the root problem is that groundwater is still getting into the system.”

She said the Bourne Rivulet was running when it would not normally be, in summer, and was filling up sewers.

The issue has been taken up by North West Hampshire MP Sir George Young, who said he would pursue the question with the utility company.

In a statement the company said: “We’ve recently experienced one of the wettest spring/summer periods in |history, which considerably increased groundwater levels in the area causing the sewers to reach maximum levels.”