Sandcliff Road Erith residents flooded by raw sewage

Erith: Paul Seymour has lived on Sandcliff Road since 1997, and he’s had it rough. He’s dealt with raw sewage spilling from a manhole cover about 20 times. Can you imagine?

One night back in 1998, he and his wife were jolted awake by a loud noise. They thought it was a flood, and it turned out to be sewage and chemicals flooding the street. Ten homes were affected, but luckily, theirs wasn’t one of them.

Thames Water took two years to fix the damage, promising it wouldn’t happen again. But guess what? It keeps happening. Paul says every year or two, sometimes even twice a year, the manhole cover pops up, and a torrent of waste comes pouring out.

It’s not just rain that triggers this mess. Paul mentioned it can happen even when the weather’s been fine. Thames Water eventually shows up, but when he reached out to Bexley Council, they just passed the buck back to Thames Water.

Paul’s worried about health risks, especially with raw sewage flowing down the street. He pointed out that one of his neighbors just brought home a newborn baby to this mess. Yikes!

Thames Water cleans it up, claims it’s fixed, and then it happens all over again. Paul spoke to a civil engineer who thinks the ongoing construction in the area might be to blame. Thames Water, on the other hand, says it’s due to people flushing the wrong things or restaurants dumping fat down the sink.

It’s odd because you’d expect a big rainstorm to cause flooding, but it usually happens a few days later. Paul and Joanne thought this place would be their forever home, but locals have nicknamed the street “Poo Mews.”

Now, Paul feels stuck. He said, “We’re going to have to live here until we die, which, if they carry on with this raw sewage, won’t be much longer.”

Both Thames Water and Bexley Council have been approached for comments. Bexley Council stated that this is a Thames Water issue and they’ll do what they can to help.