Calls for Tibberton sewer upgrade ahead of development

Tankers were sent to the village earlier in January to pump sewage out

A village sewer system needs to be upgraded before further development in the area, a campaign group has said.

A pumping station in Tibberton, Worcestershire, experienced problems during heavy rain in January, meaning water company workers had to manually pump sewage from the village.

Members of the Tibberton Action Group say a further 100 homes earmarked for the village would exacerbate problems.

Severn Trent Water said it would be considered during the planning process.

The company used four emergency tankers to pump out the human waste over 36 hours during the incident on 9 January.

A neighbour, at a low point in the village, was nearly flooded with sewage, said Sarah Harfield, of the group.

'Flooded with sewage'

"It was coming up through their toilets and we are just concerned that if they do build more housing here that they are not going to improve the drainage system," she told BBC Radio Hereford and Worcester.

"And so this problem is going to happen more often and lead to the village being flooded with sewage, which is just unthinkable," she said.

A planning application for 100 new homes has been submitted near to the site of the pumping station.

The application has been submitted by developers McTaggart and Mickel which has declined to comment on the residents' concerns.

The proposals will be looked at by Wychavon District Council some time over the coming weeks.

A Severn Trent Water spokesperson said: "While new build developments have to go through a process to be adopted into the Severn Trent network, we have an obligation to take away and treat waste from new developments.

"Every time a planning application is approved, we consider what work may need to be completed in the area to make sure the existing network continues to operate effectively."