Sewage pipe floods driveway

A family has been forced to put up with raw sewage flooding their driveway for days after a pipe burst outside their home.

Simon Spears, aged 41, found his Cannock driveway covered in sewage water on Monday evening.

Mr Spears said he reported the mess at 6pm on Monday but Severn Trent Water were not able to clear it for days because they needed more heavy-duty equipment to clean out a blockage in the sewage pipes which had caused one to burst.

Mr Spears, who lives in Stafford Road, Huntington, with his partner, Natalie, 34, and two sons Byron, seven, and Tobias, nine, said: "The smell is horrendous. There was just a little puddle on Monday morning and we didn't think anything of it, but when we came back in the evening it was all down the drive. It's coming right up to my steps and is coming out by our back door."

He said he and his neighbour, who has a two-year-old child, were the only ones in the road to suffer the flooding because the pipe burst outside their homes.

Amy Weiser, of Severn Trent Water, said: "A team went out at 11am on Tuesday but they weren't able to clear the blockage. They had knocked on the door and normally what happens if someone isn't there is that we will leave a calling card but my colleagues forgot to do that and we are very sorry for the miscommunication there."

The blockage was expected to have been cleared by today.