East Sussex residents avoid town centre store due to 'revolting' smell caused by blocked drains

Staff at Bunny & Belle on Lewes High Street have been forced to burn incense candles in the shop after customers were seen retching due to the stench of raw sewage.

Trudy Sealy, a staff member at the independent womenswear boutiques, said: “It’s been terrible, we have to buy incense for the shop. People have been retching when they come in. [East Sussex County Council] Highways and Southern Water continue to pass it between one another and it’s been absolutely dire.”

A drain that was originally outside the shop was covered over a number of months ago to make way for a new pavement, causing a small private drain to overflow at the back of the building.

Bunny & Belle have been told that fat balls, caused by food wastage being thrown down sinks, have formed in the underground pipes and lead to a slime-like substance running past the side of the property, creating a smell which makes people “want to vomit”.

Trudy said: “When people are walking past, it’s like a slime, which only happens in the afternoon.

"It has affected business drastically, people aren’t coming because it smells so bad. They are walking on the other side to avoid the muck and slime which runs down the front of our shop. The stench is terrible. You couldn't keep the door open because it would hit the back of your throat and make you want to vomit.”

An East Sussex County Council drainage manager confirmed a small private drain at the property that handles wastewater was blocked, whilst also having a partially blocked main sewer.

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The council said it advised the owners that they would need to get the private drain unblocked and tested, before speaking to Southern Water, who are responsible for the sewer system.

Some of Facebook questioned whether the blocked drains were due to the recent installation of temporary bus stops in the town, but the council said it could find no evidence that was the issue.

Trudy said the shop staff were tired of hearing the County Council and Southern Water passing the buck on the issue, whilst they continue to suffer with the smell.

She said: “We are at our wits’ end with who to go to. Nobody is doing anything, because they are not affected. We are the only ones that are affected. It’s stopping people shopping.”