Raw sewage floods Hampstead Garden Suburb home (From This Is Local London)

Raw sewage floods Hampstead Garden Suburb home

4:03pm Tuesday 30th June 2009 in

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TWO feet of raw sewage flooded a cottage in Hampstead Garden Suburb on Saturday, causing tens of thousands of pounds of damage.

Toilet roll, tampons and human faeces were discovered floating through the kitchen and living room of the house, in Falloden Way, after torrential rain caused a drain to overflow at around 6.30pm.

Nearby Mutton Brook also burst its banks, adding to the problem.

The dirty water destroyed carpets, TVs, furniture, a computer, a washing machine and a parquet floor in the 90-year-old cottage.

Iain Cox, his wife Sara and his two children, aged six and 11, may not be able to move back home for four months while the floor is pulled up and the house is drained and decontaminated.

They are staying at a North Finchley Hotel until they are found somewhere more permanent.

Mr Cox, 42, said: "This has happened two or three times before, but only in our garden, never through the house like this.

"It was absolutely unbelievable, absolutely putrid. I can't even begin to try to describe the stench.

"We can't go inside the house because we risk infection, so it's hugely inconvenient."

The most frustrating thing about the flood, said Mr Cox, was that Thames Water refused to admit liability.

"It keeps happening and it's getting worse, but they refuse to talk to us about it."

A Thames Water spokeswoman apologised to the family, but said the company did not accept responsibility for the flooding.

She said: "Our engineers responded quickly and a thorough clean-up has taken place.

"We take all flooding incidents very seriously and understand that this is particularly distressing for our customers.

"We will be carrying out a CCTV survey of the sewers to check for obstructions that may have added to the problem."

The spokeswoman said population growth and people concreting over their gardens had contributed to flooding problems in recent years.

She confirmed that Thames Water has applied to Ofwat, its economic regulatory body, for £5.5 billion of funding to improve its sewage systems over the next five years.

It hopes to alleviate flooding for 3,500 homes in London and the Thames Valley region, many of which use a Victorian "combined" system that takes in both rain and sewage and consequently overflows more easily.

But Mr Cox was unsatisfied with the company's response.

"I could sort out the whole house and get everything back to normal and then the sewers spew it all out again," he said.

"It's madness. This has been going on for years. They need to stop making excuses and come around to fix it today."