'Sewage water from floods has destroyed my home'

Families living on a Willenhall estate have spoken about the devastation caused by repeated sewage floods in their homes.

Skye Butler-Booth fought back tears as she told the BBC "we've lost everything."

The ground floor of her home in Farmbridge Way needs news carpets, kitchen flooring and skirting boards as well as work to replaster the walls.

Water supplier Severn Trent said the flooding was a "complicated issue" and apologised to those affected.

Mrs Butler-Booth lives with her husband Jamie Butler-Booth and baby boy Ezra.

The family have been living in a Premier Inn hotel in Walsall since heavy thunderstorms caused flooding across the West Midlands last month.

She told BBC Radio WM: "We've been there since day two of it happening and then they've put us up for lease for another two weeks while they try and sort the flooring out.

"It's heartbreaking. It's happened four times since we've lived there and it's hard to sort things with the little one and my husband working full time."

Deborah Smith's terminally ill husband has been unable to come downstairs due to the effect of the sewage on his health.

She told the BBC: "I've lived in my house for 31 years and this is the fourth time we've been flooded.

"In the past we've had condoms on the floor, sanitary wear. Its totally devastated the downstairs of our home again.

"We've got no carpets on the floor, we're down to the concrete. We're under immense pressure as it is and this is just adding to it."

Sharon Sleeth, who has lived on the estate for 32 years, said: “It’s like Niagra falls. It cascades, collects in front of our homes, then we watch it crawl up the path, crawl under the windows and under the doors. It leaves behind a mess, it stinks."

Ms Sleeth said residents had to call Severn Trent Water to turn on a pump to drain the water, but the phone lines were often "manic".

She added: "We watch the water drain in minutes and then we're left with the devastation. Everything you put down a toilet is on our front garden."

Severn Trent said it installed a new shaft tank in the area, which is designed to create extra storage capacity in the network to capture storm flows and return them back to the sewer once flow levels are normal.

Michael Keenan, network operations lead at Severn Trent, said: “We know how distressing any form of flooding can be and we are very sorry to the residents of Farmbridge Way and Grenville Close.

"This is a complicated issue that may require several partners working together to come up with a long-term solution.

"As a matter of urgency, a team attended the site on Friday afternoon and the pumps were operating as they should as well as finding no issues with the shaft tank.

"We will continue our investigations and speak with residents directly to find the root cause of the flooding."

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