'Every rainfall I fear sewage will flood my home'

Hayley Cosgrove said she is having to clean up the mess

A mother-of-two said she now lives in fear every time it rains as it causes sewage to flood into her home.

Hayley Cosgrove has lived at the Southam Road property in Long Itchington for two years and claims her housing association has ignored her requests to fix the drain in her back garden.

“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,” she said.

Orbit, her housing association, said it had carried out inspections at the property, adding: “The welfare of customers is our priority.”

Ms Cosgrove, who lives at the property with her teenage daughters and dog said: “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.”

In frustration she posted images on Facebook and received a response from the housing association which denied the occurrence of any flooding.

“We contacted Severn Trent on her behalf, as they are responsible for the main shared drainage system servicing her home,” an Orbit spokesperson said.

Orbit, the housing association, has denied any evidence of flooding after six visits

They added an area inspector had visited the property six times since the images were first shared in April and carried out another inspection on 12 November to remove debris from a gully drain.

A further independent CCTV survey of the boundary pipe the housing association is responsible for has also been scheduled.

But Ms Cosgrove believes that is not good enough.

“Their argument is with Severn Trent, Severn Trent's argument is with them and I'm stuck in the middle," she said.

“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 told 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.”