Ref. 71777-05NEIGHBOURS Eric Halliday and Pat Johnson fear that heavy rain predicted for later this week will see their gardens flooded with raw sewage once again.

They have had to put up with 6in of drain water containing faeces and toilet paper for three days at their homes in Grange Drive.

They called Thames Water on numerous occasions and although engineers did come out over the weekend, they have not been able to fix the problem.

The neighbours say their drains overflow every four months. The last time it happened they paid Thames Water to fix the problem because their drains are privately owned.

But they say the sewer becomes blocked at a section further up the road, maintained by Thames Water, and want the company to come up with a solution to the ongoing problem.

Pat, 62, whose property is the worst affected, said: "I am really cheesed off. It keeps happening again and again.

"It's been bad before but not this bad. It all started with the thunderstorms.

"The water has gone down now but the problem won't go away.

"I haven't been able to have a bath or do the washing in case it gets worse.

"People living up the road aren't aware of the blockage, they carry on using water and then it all ends up overflowing up here.

Eric, who lives next door, said: "I've been living here for 45 years and the problem has been going on all that time.

"It's not pleasant having sewage in your garden.

"If the weather warms up the smell will get worse."

Firefighters visited the house on Sunday evening but were not able to drain the water because it contained raw sewage and requested the emergency attendance of Thames Water.

Thames Water spokesman Chris Shipway said: "It looks as if there have been three blockages this year.

"In January and June the blockages were in private sewers and so although we were called out there was a charge.

"We were called out on Saturday to do some work and cleared the blockage on the public sewer and got it flowing.

"It's blocked again since then and we were called back yesterday for more clearance work.

"We found rags, and air fresheners from toilets there, and it was a similar story in November.

"It's not necessarily from that particular road, but it will be from houses in the area."

Mr Shipway said that Thames Water workers cleared the drain, and then used a high-pressure jet to clean it.

A camera was due to be sent down to make sure the sewer was emptying properly, and there will also be a leaflet campaign in the near future urging residents in the area to "bag it and bin it".

He said drain blockages often occurred when nappies, air fresheners and sanitary towels are flushed down the toilet.

Bhavani Vadde