Derbyshire pensioner stranded in home two weeks after sewage covers gardens

Castle Hill resident Liz Birch, 75, has seen front and back access to her home swamped by raw sewage leaking out near the Pinfold Street bus station and flowing downhill to form a moat around the pair of semi-detached houses, both managed by Rykneld Homes on behalf of North East Derbyshire District Council.

Son Luke, who owns a pet shop nearby, said: “I first noticed on Boxing Day that there was water trickling down mum’s steps. By the next day we thought it must be a burst pipe somewhere, within another day or so it was bubbling up human waste.

“It’s foul drainage – poo, wee, soiled toilet roll. I used to work laying drains, so I know it’s a serious hazard. It’s been streaming out across the main road for days, with cars and pedestrians splashing through.

“The binmen refused to enter the property to empty mum’s bins, but somehow she’s supposed to get in and out. I’m having to put on my wellies whenever she needs a pint of milk.”

Yorkshire Water has temporarily fixed the source of the problem but without more extensive works it will likely reoccur. The company has been even slower to begin any clean-up.

Luke said: “Mum has COPD and is unsteady on her feet. She’ll normally walk down once a day to visit us in the shop, then I’ll drive her home. She can’t even do that now. She’s extremely stressed and losing sleep. She shouldn’t have to deal with this at her stage of life.

“It’s been over two weeks, it’s disgusting. I’ve been on to Yorkshire Water, the council and Rykneld numerous times, they say that it’s not an emergency because the sewage isn’t seeping into the house. I could understand that if it was clean water, but it’s not. It’ll be full of E. coli and all sorts.”

After the Derbyshire Times contacted Yorkshire Water, a spokesperson said: “We understand an incident like this, which has been caused by a damaged sewer nearby, is distressing for customers. Our teams will be attending to carry out a clean-up at the property and we are working to complete repairs as soon as possible.

“Due to the location of the repair, traffic management will need to be put in place to enable repairs to be done safely and we will work with the local council highways team to secure a permit to carry out the repair as soon as possible.”

The company did then send out a clean-up team on Thursday, January 11, but Luke was less than impressed by the work, and photos show parts of the garden and footpath still covered in sludge.

He said: “They’ve left a right mess at my mum’s and not even touched her neighbours, yet they have told the director at environmental health that the job is all cleaned, tidied and signed off.”

A spokesperson for North East Derbyshire District Council said only: “We are working with Yorkshire Water and will collect the bins as soon as possible.”

Rykneld Homes has yet to respond to a request for comment.

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