Sewage forces families from homes

Residents in a Black Country street have spent the bank holiday weekend in emergency accommodation after raw sewage flooded their homes.

Householders in The Northway, Sedgley have been forced out by the smell after a drain became blocked and the waste seeped onto the street.

Some families have spent the past four nights with friends as engineers struggle to find the cause of the problem. Workers for water giant Severn Trent have repeatedly used pumps to clear the sewage as it has built up but some residents say they cannot return home until the blockage is removed.

And at one point Alder Coppice Primary School, in The Northway, faced closure today as the sewage spread towards the site but the latest clean-up has staved off the threat.

Ventilation engineer Stuart Poyner, aged 43, has a 12-month old baby and says the situation is a "disgrace". He discovered sewage was flooding underneath his floorboards when he heard a loud bang on Friday evening and found sparks were flying from the house's junction box.

The family, one of six affected, has not slept in the house since and Mr Poyner is very unhappy.

"It's like living in a nightmare," he said. "I've got a 12-month old baby and we've just had to leave. The smell is just awful and you can't use the toilets.

"I feel sorry for the neighbours. We can't all keep putting on our friends. We might have to move into hotel accommodation if it carries on.

"It needs sorting – it's a disaster zone. It's an absolute disgrace."

Mr Poyner added that the crisis could not have come at a worse time as, because of the Bank Holiday weekend, residents have been unable to get hold of their insurers about the damage to their homes until today.

His home is still without electricity after the junction box exploded and the wallpaper and carpets downstairs have been damaged because of the continuing damp conditions.