Residents living next to huge sewage pipe say they are woken by the sounds of POOS being flushed away

2023-02-06 1,424

Residents living next to a huge sewage pipe which was built outside their front doors say they are woken up by the sound of POOS being flushed away.

The above ground pipe snakes around Bovis Homes’ Wendelburie Rise development in Wellingborough, Northants.

It was installed last November while Anglian Water fixed an underground pipe following a wave of complaints about foul smells.

Locals were given food hampers from the water company as an apology for the inconvenience and were reassured the new pipe would be temporary.

Anglian Water estimated the work would be completed next month but residents fear they'll be living with the outdoor "poo pipe" until the summer.

Fed-up locals say they are woken by the sound of poos being flushed away at night while others brand it an "eyesore".

Firefighter Craig Rollason, 32, lives opposite the pipe with his wife Katie, 30, and their newborn baby son Harris.

He said: “When the pipe went up we were all given a hamper from Anglian Water and told it would be sorted by March.

“Due to the freezing weather last month, we’ve now been warned that it might not be taken down until May or June.

"Before the work started it really smelled bad which was because of the damaged pipe.

"We were glad it was getting sorted out but it's been going on for a while now.

“The pipe is a real eyesore and a hazard for us crossing the road because you have to step into the road and cars can drive up pretty fast.

“It can be pretty scary crossing the road when you’ve got a newborn baby with you.”

Another resident fumed: “It’s ridiculous to have to live like this. It makes me queasy thinking of all the poo floating past my front door.

“It was bad enough when we were told it would be in place until March but now we’re looking at the pavement poo pipe being there until the summer.

“It doesn’t smell now because it’s winter but what happens if there’s another heatwave? It’ll be unbearable.”

Tim Buckley, 31, and his girlfriend Beth South, 27, say they can hear sewage going through pipe outside their kitchen window.

Tim, a digital marketing co-ordinator, said: “It’s not so bad in the day time because all the building work drowns out the noise from the pipe but at night it’s pretty loud.

“You can hear the water and waste being flushed around in the pipe. It is not a particularly pleasant thing to have to listen to when you're trying to relax in the evening.

“The pipe completely blocks our view from the house. We understand why it was put up but we’re sick of it now.

“The hamper we got from Anglian Water before Christmas was a nice gesture but the longer the situation goes on the more empty that gesture becomes.”

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