Woman 'desperate' after six years of sewage floods

A woman whose garden has been repeatedly flooded with sewage for six years has said she is "desperate" to have the issue resolved.

Judy Washington, from Wheatley, Oxford, has sewage regularly bubble up through a drain cover next to her property when there is prolonged, heavy rain.

She told the BBC that, despite frequent visits by Thames Water engineers, the drain still floods with sewage which takes "forever" to remove.

Thames Water said it was "very sorry" for the flooding, which it claimed was due "to excess water entering the sewer system" during periods of heavy rainfall.

Washington said the drain overflows several times a year, covering her back garden in sewage.

"It's just depressing," she said. "Every time it rains you don't know what you're going to get in the morning.

"You lose sleep over it, lying in bed wondering how much flooding is in your garden."

She said engineers previously fitted a device to stop the sewer overflowing, but it led to flooding in her neighbour's garden and was removed.

"Nobody seems to be doing anything," she said.

"Thames Water don't contact me, or give me any inclination of what they're actually doing to solve the problem."

Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Freddie van Mierlo, MP for Henley and Thame, said the company had told him it "wouldn't even look at the situation until the end of winter of 2027".

"It is unacceptable that a lady in her retirement is shovelling sewage from her drive and waiting for human waste to decompose in her garden," he said.

He called on Sir Keir Starmer to write to Thames Water, on behalf of Washington and her neighbour, and "compel them to sort this out".

The prime minister responded that the situation was "awful" and said a minister would follow up the situation.

Thames Water said Wheatley was "highly susceptible" to sewer flooding due to being in a low-lying valley.

It said "extremely high ground water levels and runoff" contributed to hydraulic overload, which is when rainfall overwhelms foul sewers.

"Our teams continue to attend the area to investigate and determine the source of the problem.

"While investigations continue, we have sealed multiple manholes, corrected a bend in a sewer pipe and installed new sewer lining," it added.

The company said it remained in dialogue with Washington and Freddie van Mierlo, and that investigations to "determine the most effective long-term solution" were ongoing.