Residents call for action after street fills with raw sewage

  • Video report by ITV News Meridian's Will Walters

People living a street in Hampshire are calling for action from Southern Water after heavy rain caused drains to overflow and fill their road with sewage. Residents of Salisbury Road in Cosham were out at 3AM this morning trying to defend their homes.

The contents of Cosham's sewer system had burst out of several drains. Cars and vans ploughed through the waste, sending it in the direction of people's homes. 

  • Simon Ford, Resident

Simon Ford and his son were out in the early hours, desperately guarding his front door with sandbags. They were also pleading with drivers to slow down as one large wave could have seen the sewage enter his house.

He says: "It's dark and so it's quite good because you can't see what's in it. But you can smell it".

"What happens is that it comes and it gets right up to the step of our house and then vehicles go past, drive past and the wash of the vehicles just goes over of whatever defences we've got and you just know that one big wave and it'll just be in the house".

Residents of Salisbury Road were grateful for the local street cleaning team, who even helped some clear their driveways. Credit: ITV News Meridian

When the floodwater eventually drained, the residents were left with the unpleasant task of clearing what's left behind. And then there's the smell.

Resident Lucy Heard, says: "So we get the sewage and we get the flood water but when the sun comes out it smells like the creek".

"You have to shut all of your windows on a hot day, I can't walk my dog out here today because he could be eating and licking god knows what".

  • Lucy Heard, Resident

Last night (Monday 26th July) Penny Mordaunt, the MP for Portsmouth North, held an emergency meeting with Southern Water over this latest incident.

Tomorrow night she'll be meeting with councillors and a survey team from Southern Water outside the Co-op store on Salisbury Road at 6pm. Residents are being invited to come down and share their experiences.

Southern Water say they're committed to making sure this stops happening in the future.   

Residents here say they hope a solution is found before their street is overwhelmed again by rain water and sewage.