Sewage floods Pulborough family's garden: 'It just filled up like a swimming pool'

And concerns are being raised over sewage polluting the River Arun and Pulborough Wild Brooks.

High river levels left much of Pulborough under water over the past week – and one family’s back garden covered in waste.

Sammie King, who lives with her husband Mark and children at Swan Corner, said: “We live near the river and accept that our front garden floods occasionally but for nine months of the year, it’s beautiful.

“However, we have had a 48-hour sewage spill flooding my children’s play equipment in the back garden. It’s not just liquid, it’s nasty – bits of toilet paper and human waste. The garden just filled up like a swimming pool.”

She said that part of the garden did not usually flood which is why they had sited their children’s play equipment there.

She added children Jake,10, Max, eight and six-year-old Ed ‘had been left disappointed that they can’t play outside – “They’re nature-loving kids, the kind that play footy even in the rain and they’re miffed their play tent and garden equipment is covered in sludge.”

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Meanwhile, Councillor Elizabeth Hunt has raised concerns about pollution in the River Arun and at Pulborough Brooks and has been campaigning for action.

She said: “Over the summer there have been several instances of local children becoming ill after swimming in the river, a place where local residents have been able to swim for hundreds of years, now too polluted to do so safely.”

A spokesman for Southern Water said: “We know how distressing flooding can be and we always seek to help any of our customers who experience this.

“In recent days there have been wide spread events across the region due extreme rain with a number of rivers bursting their banks.

“We will be visiting the customer and arranging a clean up.

“Hydraulic overload of our systems is a difficult and complex issue. While we will be conducting an investigation to see if any intervention we can make, it is not always possible to prevent overload and any solution is unlikely to be quick or easy.”