‘Foul smelling liquid violently squirting’ out of housing estate pipe on Horsham and Crawley border

Bewbush resident Richard Kail, 25, said he was ‘pushed over the edge’ after being plagued by ‘bad smells’ and ‘unpleasant sights’ on the Kilnwood Vale development.

Richard, a candidate for the borough and county council elections next month, said something needs to be done to protect waterways in the area.

He added: “It’s started to get really bad.

“It smells really bad. It’s just really horrible.

“Foul smelling liquid violently squirting out of a pipe into the tributaries of the Bewbush Brook is absolutely unacceptable.”

But developers Crest Nicholson have confirmed they have now fixed the pipe, which was damaged by vandals.

A spokesman said: “We became aware of a sewage leak on Monday, which was caused by an act of vandalism resulting in a broken clamp on one of the pipes. We’ve taken swift action to rectify the situation, with repairs having been carried out already, and we’re in the process of cleaning up the waste. We’d like to thank the residents for their patience.”

A Horsham District Council spokeswoman said it was concerned about the potential leak.

She added: “[The council] has not been directly contacted regarding the leak. This type of issue is the responsibility of the Environment Agency and should be reported directly to the Agency. The Council will provide any help and assistance to the Environment Agency as required. The Council have made Crest Nicholson as the master planners of the site and the Environment Agency aware of this potential leak. Crest Nicholson have commented that they are aware of the leak and that it has now been contained.”

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We are in the early stages of investigating this incident.

“Anyone who suspects pollution in our waterways can report it to us on our free, 24-hour incident hotline: 0800 807060.”