Yarpole residents angry at sewage running in streets

Toilet paper can sometimes be witnessed flowing from a manhole cover

Residents say they are having to suffer sewage, toilet paper and waste water running through their village.

Sewage usually appears in Yarpole, Herefordshire, after heavy rain and runs into the River Lugg, they said.

Julian Stokes said he and other residents had been asking for a pumping system upgrade for more than 15 years.

Welsh Water said the problem was linked to unauthorised connections which have been made to the system, allowing in too much rainwater.

"Recently one of the manholes was spewing out water, sewage, with toilet paper in it," said Angela Barnett, who lives in the village.

"People walk their dogs through it, their toddlers through it, and that must get walked back into homes."

Angela Barnett and Julian Stokes say sewage runs through their village after heavy rain

A local property regularly had sewage backed up into its downstairs toilet, explained Mr Stokes.

He said Welsh Water had installed a one-way valve to prevent that happening again but that had created another problem which meant instead sewage was coming onto the road.

"These days it's mainly toilet paper that is visible, but we were actually seeing some solids," said Ms Barnett.

She called on Welsh Water to "sort the problem out", adding the situation had left her feeling helpless and depressed.

"For them to keep telling us that it's because other residents are not behaving correctly is not an answer to us," she said. "We can't do anything about that."

Welsh Water said the system serving the village was sized to meet its needs.

As well as the unauthorised connections it said it had located groundwater infiltration getting into the system causing "additional pressure".

"We have already undertaken a lot of work to the system to remove some of the infiltration and this has improved the situation," the company said in a statement.

Since works were completed in 2020, it said the only spills that had occurred were from the "permitted emergency outfall pipe at the pumping station".

Welsh Water also said it continued to monitor the situation and if appropriate would undertake further work.