Tankers remove sewage after estuary alert

Tankers are taking sewage from a pumping station near Tacket Wood

South West Water has been using tankers to remove sewage from a pumping station on an estuary after heavy downpours overwhelmed sewers.

The company said it was taking sewage from the Westville sewage pumping station, near Tacket Wood in Kingsbridge, Devon.

The aim was to "reduce pressure on the system" after downpours "inundated" the sewers.

Sewage was seen overflowing from drains in Kingsbridge last week.

Jay Harris, the firm's head of catchment for waste water services, said : "People living around Kingsbridge will know that we have had some flooding from our sewer system, which has been inundated with surface water runoff following the long downpours of rain in recent weeks.

"We want to reassure residents that we are taking urgent action to fix this as quickly as we can and are investigating why this has happened."

The company said it had met South Hams District Council, Kingsbridge Town Council and the Environment Agency and it was "keeping them updated".

"We want to thank residents for their patience while we fix the issues," said Mr Harris.