Mother-of-Two Expresses Fear of Home Sewage Flooding During Rainfall

A mother of two children has stated that she experiences apprehension whenever it rains, as this weather condition results in sewage inundating her residence. Hayley Cosgrove, who has resided at the Southam Road property in Long Itchington for two years, asserts that her housing association has disregarded her appeals to repair the drain located in her back garden. She explained, “Whether it’s hard rain or not the courtyard floods due to an incline in the pipe work, and all sorts of stuff float around it – and it gets into the house through the back door. It’s really not very pleasant.” Orbit, the housing association involved, reported conducting inspections at the property and affirmed: “The welfare of customers is our priority.” Ms. Cosgrove, who resides at the property with her teenage daughters and dog, stated: “Sewage rises out of the actual drain cover itself and just spews sort of everywhere because it’s so shallow.“It has nowhere else to go over them, and I’m having to clean it up myself.“I dread to think how many times it’s happened. I’ve been in this situation twice this week already.” Out of frustration, she uploaded images to Facebook, prompting a response from the housing association, which disputed the occurrence of any flooding. An Orbit spokesperson commented, “We contacted Severn Trent on her behalf, as they are responsible for the main shared drainage system servicing her home.” They further stated that an area inspector had visited the property six times since the initial sharing of images in April and conducted an additional inspection on 12 November to clear debris from a gully drain. An independent CCTV survey of the boundary pipe, for which the housing association holds responsibility, has also been scheduled. However, Ms. Cosgrove considers these measures insufficient. She remarked, “Their argument is with Severn Trent, Severn Trent’s argument is with them and I’m stuck in the middle.” She added, “Every morning I have to check the weather to make sure it’s not raining. If it is, I have to lift the drain lid a couple of centimetres just to ensure that a little bit more rain will go down the drain.“But it leaves me feeling very anxious, very upset.” Severn Trent informed the BBC: “We have visited this property in the past but unfortunately as it is a private issue it is something that we aren’t responsible for, we have however helped to clear any blockage that was there during our visit.”