Raw sewage victims' flood action plea
Problems came in wake of heavy rainfall
A Totternhoe family's garden became a sea of raw sewage after heavy rainfall at the weekend.
Margaret Kirby, of Castle Hill Road, returned home on Saturday night to find the garden under four inches of water, with some of it creeping inside her rear lobby.
Mrs Kirby, 45, who lives with her daughters, aged 11 and 19, and husband Julian, 49, immediately phoned Anglian Water to get some help.
But the human resources worker said she was told by the water company that it was not their problem and they could do nothing to help until the flooding subsided.
She then contacted the environmental health department, which told her it was unable to do anything because her street is a privately owned sector and her house is privately owned.
Mrs Kirby phoned the Gazette on Monday in a bid to find out who could help her sort out the problem.
She said: "I have two daughters here and we can't even flush the toilet or have a bath. The couple who live next door are pensioners and their garden is under eight inches of water."
Castle Hill Road was closed on Monday and Tuesday, because of the flooding, and traffic was diverted.
Sara Rowland, of Anglian Water, said: "We have been working around the clock during the heavy rainfall which has not only flooded our customers but affected lots of our sites, too.
"If everything is under water there is nowhere we can pump it. We need to wait for things to calm down a bit so we can get access to the infrastructure.
"Not meeting people's expectations when there is flooding is common, but we have got people working shifts trying to fight it. We are sorry people feel aggrieved, but there is nothing more we can do."
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Weather for Luton
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 9 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 11 C to 25 C
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