Business closes after flood from burst sewer

Business owner Alex Gater said he has had to close the Lapford Water Mill cafe after a sewage pipe burst nearby

A business has closed to the public after a burst sewer pipe flooded the surrounding area with raw sewage, according to the owner.

Alex Gater who runs the Lapford Water Mill cafe near Crediton in Devon said he reported the leak on 1 March and it has been repaired by South West Water (SWW), but the sewage remains in the leat next to his business and has not been cleared.

"I want SWW to come here and pump this out and clean it away," Mr Gater said.

A spokesperson for South West Water (SWW) apologised for the burst sewer main which "flowed onto the field", adding they took "immediate action" to stop "further run-off".

Alex Gater said there were "brown clumps and lumps" floating on the surface of the water

Mr Gater said: "SWW came out very quickly and fixed the pipe and then left very quickly and I had to chase them up about what they're going to do about the clean-up.

"There's brown clumps and lumps floating on about 200 yards of this watercourse.

"Some of it's green, it's foaming, it's bubbling, it just looks horrendously toxic and as soon as the sunshine hits it, it hits your nose."

'Struggle'

A SWW spokesperson said: "We took immediate action to stop the flow, thoroughly sampled and cleaned up the area as well as placing hay bales to prevent any further run off.

"We take these incidents extremely seriously, notifying the Environment Agency (EA) as soon as this incident was identified, and we continue to work with them."

Mr Gater said he has had to close his business due to the sewage leak.

"It's a struggle at the moment", he said.

"We're a young business and I've been putting an awful lot of money into developing the business.

"Until I can be certain that someone is going to take responsibility for this effluent and remove it, and then come and test and certify that this is clean enough, I can't open, and I can't earn a bean."

'Take action'

A spokesperson for the EA said its officers had investigated the complaints about the repaired SWW rising sewer main.

They said: "Samples have been sent to our laboratory for analysis.

"We take pollution very seriously and if there is evidence of any environmental impact we will take action."