Flood-hit Tallington residents left without working toilets and showers

People in a flooded village have said they are living "in the Middle Ages" after a swamped sewage system left them without working toilets and showers.

Tallington's drainage network was overwhelmed following heavy rain last month.

Some residents said they were abandoned and left to fend for themselves.

Lincolnshire County Council and Anglian Water said they were working together to clear gullies and culverts in a bid to resolve the issue.

James Kudlinski said he had lived in the area for 68 years and had "never encountered anything like this at all".

"We couldn't use the toilets last night because if you tried to flush them, the water would rise to the top," he said.

"It's been pretty bad all this week.

"There's people in my street - ladies, single ladies in their late 70s and early 80s - living by themselves and they're scared to use the loo. They're scared to do the washing up, they're scared to wash clothes.

"It's like living in the Middle Ages. It really is."

One homeowner said the village had been swamped for two weeks resulting in people falling ill and feeling worried.

Steve, who did not want to give his surname, said: "My wife is almost at the point of a nervous breakdown.

"We've got no quality of life. We've purchased our own portable toilet."

Another resident, Jay Baynes, was forced to purchase a pump in a bid to sort the problem.

"I'm speechless.

"I've just spent £230... I've driven to Mountsorrel in Leicestershire this morning to go and buy a pump," he said.

Julie Scholes said her cottage was left without power and sanitation after sewage water seeped through the floorboards and into the shower.

"[It's] really terrifying.

"And it all could have been avoided if the drains had been fixed."

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: "The problems we're seeing in Tallington are being caused by rain and surface water getting into the sewer network rather than a specific problem with the system.

"Our sewers are designed to take away the waste from homes and businesses, but the nature of what they are there to do means they're not sealed systems and excess rainwater and groundwater can infiltrate into them during prolonged or extreme wet weather."

Richard Fenwick, from Lincolnshire County Council, said it was contributing towards the costs of a high capacity pump to "try get some of that surface water away"

"In the longer term, we're looking at some work over the next few weeks," he added.

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