Pensioner 'forced out' after sewage problems

Allan Hope-Kirk, 81, has had to live with his son Stuart after ten inches of sewage battered his 500-year-old home at Nyton Road, Westergate. Stuart was left outraged and has called for repair works to the sewers to be carried out.

'The home has been damaged by sewage over the last nine years. My father has been driven out of his home,' said Mr Hope-Kirk.

'We'd be lucky to get 150,000 for the house at an auction. My dad has Parkinson's disease and he has been left in floods of tears. It is a very sad situation.'

The home has been flooded 13 times since 2000 and in February this year ten inches of sewage filled his home.

Mr Hope-Kirk has recently had to leave his home and live with his son at Bexhill-on-Sea.

Southern Water said it had commissioned a report by specialist consultants into the drainage issues at Nyton Road and concluded the sewage network in the area was in an '˜overall sound condition' and that flooding was a result of poor land drainage.

A spokesman for Southern Water said: 'Recent flooding at the property was caused by a rise in the groundwater table, which in turn led to heavy flows of spring water in nearby watercourses and ditches and subsequently flooding.

'This floodwater can in turn enter the public sewerage system and place customers at risk of sewer flooding.

'As Southern Water is not responsible for land drainage, we shared our report with Arun District Council (ADC) and the Environment Agency (EA), which have the powers to enforce the maintenance and repair of ditches and culverts in the area.'

Southern Water also said it had taken steps to prevent flooding at the property, including installing an anti-flood device on the private drain serving the home.

Spokeswoman for ADC Harriet Shelley said: 'The council is aware that Rush Cottage was one of a number of properties affected by flooding in February.

'Arun regrets all instances of property flooding and intends to develop a district wide Surface Water Management Plan to identify flooding trouble spots and to encourage joined-up thinking between the appropriate agencies responsible for addressing the issues, such as landowners, Southern Water, the EA, West Sussex County Council and the district council, to put in place appropriate measures to mitigate risk.'