Swinton OAP's sewage nightmare

EVERY time it rains, it rains misery for pensioner Edward Humphreys as raw sewage bubbles up into his front garden.

Mr Humphreys (81), and his neighbour Marjorie Larkin, have been plagued by the slurry of toilet paper and waste which rises up from a manhole cover and spills out onto their shared path and garden, for the last seven months.

The pensioner, who is a keen gardener, has reported the problem to 2010 Rotherham on three occasions and his outraged daughter was told by one member of staff her father had to put up with the stomach churning mess as “it only covers a square foot of the garden.”

Last week, as the sewage resurfaced at his council property on St John's Road in Swinton, Mr Humphreys contacted the Advertiser to voice his concerns.

He said: “It’s like they don’t care. I've have lived here for more than 20 years, have always paid my rent and looked after my property, it is not fair.

“Nobody wants to take responsibility but it's a health and safety issue.

“It is causing stress and upset and it should not matter how much sewage comes out, nobody should have to put up with that.”

Neighbour, Marjorie Larkin, added: “Every time it rains I am on my guard, it’s just so unpleasant.

“Mr Humphreys is not in good health and every time it has happened, he has cleared it up for me.

“He spends so much time on his garden and takes so much care over it, it is such a shame.”

A spokeswoman for 2010 Rotherham said that staff had attended the property on three occasions since May, in each case the blockages and sewage were successfully cleared and the manhole cover repaired.

She added: “A camera survey was commissioned to investigate the underlying cause of the problem.

“This indicated that everything was in good working order with no visible damage to the drainage system.

“Informal conclusions attributed the blockages to inappropriate disposal of non-sewage items through the drainage system.”

She said that 2010 Rotherham would continue to monitor the condition of the drains and further investigations carried out. A letter would also be sent to all residents living nearby explaining the need to take care with the disposal of bulky items.

She added: “We are sorry to hear that his daughter felt that she had been spoken to inappropriately by a member of our staff. 2010 Rotherham takes customer satisfaction very seriously and this will be investigated further.”