'We had raw sewage all over our flat'

Some residents in an assisted living complex say they have been facing flooding inside their homes for weeks, with raw sewage coming out of their showers.

Gary Liddle and Keith Gade live in Fletcher House in North Mundham, near Chichester in West Sussex, where some residents say they started having issues on 17 January.

Liddle said: "It was actually quite scary because we're actually scared to go out of our house because we don't know if it's going to happen again. The smell was absolutely horrendous, and it was just raw sewage all over our flat."

Southern Water said its teams had cleaned up internal flooding at some flats in North Mundham and its investigations were ongoing.

The company says it remains in discussions with Anchor, which manages the complex, and will continue to work to resolve the problem.

Emma Martin, operations manager for Fletcher House, said the flooding was a result of problems with the water network in the area and its contractors had been on site since the issues began.

Affected residents were also being offered temporary accommodation, she added.

Liddle said some residents had been unable to use their toilets.

He said raw sewage had also been flooding the road outside the complex, while also coming up through three manhole covers.

"It's been very, very stressful."

Gade said sewage came "pouring" out of his shower.

"It's terrible, the smell, you can't get rid of it," he said.

"It needs to be all washed out and disinfected and everything else."

The 82-year-old said he put down towels to stop the leak spreading but it made its way to his carpet and kitchen.

He added: "The carpet was so wet it had to be pulled out, it was smelling as well.

"There was sewage in there. It all had to be cleaned up."

Southern Water, which has tankers set up in North Mundham, says: "We recognise how distressing and disruptive flooding can be, and we are doing what we can to help those customers affected.

"Initial investigations suggest it may have been caused by a blockage in private drainage pipes, but we're carrying out thorough checks of our sewer network too, to ensure there are no further issues.

"January was the second wettest on record since 1836, which has placed significant strain on the network."

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