'Sewage river' surrounds house as flood alerts in place with Thames Water urged to do more
ITV News Meridian’s Mike Pearse reports
A woman has described the disgusting situation of having a 'sewage river' running through her home following heavy rainfall.
For most of the last 24 hours, Louise Matthews' property in Wantage, Oxfordshire has been affected by overflowing drains and sewers.
The system has been unable to cope following several days of rain.
It comes as the Environment Agency put flood alerts in place Berkshire, Surrey, Hampshire and Oxfordshire.
Louise said, "It was all coming out of the manhole in the back garden, which goes to the sewers. So we had a river running past our backdoor through the garage to the road.
"It's obviously it's really disgusting because our house is surrounded by sewage. It's been quite worrying because we didn't know if it would come in the house.
"But we put some sandbags at the doors and I think that stopped it. "
Thames Water has again been criticised for pumping sewage into rivers to help it cope with the problem.
Around 50 rivers themselves in danger of flooding in Oxfordshire and Berkshire, there are fears it will spill into areas where people walk or even homes.
Local resident Bob Pike said, "It's very poor and they've got to get on the case and sort it and we're seeing this sort of thing.
"When you see all the sewage coming down it is terrible."
Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran says she's writing to the Environment Agency over the flooding.
A Thames Water spokesperson said,
"We’re sorry to customers who have experienced low pressure or no water today. It’s been caused by a large burst pipe in a field near Burton Road, north of Carterton.
“Our engineers are working at the site and have brought water into the area from other parts of our supply network. As a result, water pressures should improve for all customers over the coming hours.
"We’ve also been delivering bottled water to customers on our priority services register.
“The repair to the pipe is likely to carry on into next week, but this shouldn’t affect local supplies.
"We responded to reports of sewer flooding in a back garden and garage of a property on Witan Way. We know sewer flooding is unpleasant and we sympathise with everyone affected.
"Our engineer attended the site and found blockages in nearby manholes. They have cleared the blockages and will be conducting a clean-up at the property.
"They will also check the network in the nearby area for any other blockages and to ensure the system is working as it should."