Portable loos offered by South West Water as sewage overflow solution
- Published
South West Water has apologised to the customers affected
A village flooded by sewage 11 times this year may be offered portable toilets as a short-term solution.
Some residents of Clyst St Mary, Devon, have been unable to use toilets for up to 60 hours at a time due to sewage overflows.
The plan has been described as something from the 19th Century by local councillors.
Matt Crabtree, engineering director at South West Water, said the company will "deliver the right permanent solution".
Earlier this month, South West Water wrote to Bishops Clyst Parish Council to request a list of properties left without flushable toilets because of problems with the sewers and offered to provide portable "camping-like" toilets as a short-term solution.
Conservative Councillor Mike Howe, of East Devon District Council, said the suggestion was "hard to believe in a modern society".
He added: "If it was the 1800s you'd sort of understand it. I struggle to understand it in this day and age."
Mr Howe also wants all development in the West End of East Devon, to be halted until South West Water sorts out the sewage problems.
The firm has previously struggled to keep up with demand on its services, with 42,000 raw sewage discharges in 2020 alone, according to the Local Democratic Reporting Service.
Mr Howe and East Devon Conservative MP Simon Jupp recently met with South Water executives, who promised to provide monthly updates on sewage problems in the area.
"Extensive" repairs
In a letter to Bishops Clyst Parish Council, Mr Crabtree apologised to customers who had been impacted by the drainage issues.
He added: "We are continuing to investigate the cause of the issue and have been making a number of improvements to the sewer network and to the Clyst Honition pumping station, as well as adding and moving monitors to help trace the root causes.
"We are committed to delivering a permanent solution which will involve detailed works and upgrades to our network.
"These repairs will be extensive and will cause disruption to the area and because of this, we want to be absolutely sure that we have traced the cause to deliver the right permanent solution for the community."