Thames Water apologises for Tadley sewage spill

A water company has apologised after sewage spilled over a footpath and on to a school car park.

Gemma Blakey, from Tadley, Hampshire, was out with her two young children when they stepped in the puddle on the path last week.

"I was pretty disgusted to be walking through raw sewage," she told the BBC.

Thames Water said it was "most likely" caused by heavy rain making the system underneath overflow. An investigation is under way.

Ms Blakey said she was concerned the flooded path, which was full of toilet paper and faeces, had not been closed off.

"Children and families having to walk through that on a regular basis is not acceptable. It's a public health risk at the end of the day," she said.

She added: "I can understand that on occasion heavy rainfall will cause raw sewage leakage from the sewers.

"However, this has been a repeated problem - from what I understand from the local residents - over several years, and why has nothing been done to investigate and rectify the problem?"

Resident Brian Slade described how a manhole near his home "lifts up, tilts up at the edge, and spews all the sewage out".

"It's not very nice," he said. "It smells, and it's horrible."

A Thames Water spokesperson said: "We're really sorry to those people who have been affected by sewage flooding on the footpath near to a primary school in Tadley and in the school's car park.

"The flooding has most likely been caused by inundation of rainwater and infiltration of groundwater into our network causing the system to overflow.

"Our teams are on site for further investigations and a team has been sent to clean the pathway and carpark and disinfect the area. Once the investigations have concluded any required repairs will be scheduled."

Thames Water recently launched an online map showing where sewage is being released in 468 locations across the region.

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