People living next door to Hayling Island sewage leak furious with ‘unpleasant smell’

It happened at Fishery Lane, Hayling Island, with Southern Water called in just after midnight on April 17.

Resident Elaine Phillips lives right next to the burst sewage pipe and is unhappy.

‘The smell is pretty unpleasant and it is not nice to have a sewage leak outside your house,’ she said.

‘It is not very hygienic and a concern for people living on the street.’

Engineers attended the scene overnight to try and locate and deal with the leak.

It’s understood most of the leak is underground and it will take four to five days to find the leak. Engineers believe the leak could be due to an old pipe.

But residents are concerned the leak is not an isolated incident and said there were previous problems with infrastructure in the area.

Lisa Procter, who has lived on the street for 16 years, said: ‘I’ve had ongoing problems with the drain at the bottom of my garden which often fills up.

‘Every year we have problems with some type of leak.’

Neighbour Michael Varley, a resident for 38 years, added: ‘There has always been problems in the time I’ve lived here. It’s not a good situation and is a health risk.’

Many residents believe the situation has been exacerbated by the heavy flow of traffic due to the nearby recycling plant and holiday park.

Hayling Island resident and Save Our Island campaigner, Dave Parham, said a review of ageing pipes should form part of a whole review of the sewage network.

Dave said: ‘Replacing ageing pipes should be part of that process.’

A Southern Water statement said: ‘Our teams have completed a clean-up around the burst sewer on Fishery Lane, Hayling Island. We'll continue to work on fixing the broken pipe this evening so the road must remain closed. We would like to thank local residents for their patience and understanding.

‘We’d like to assure customers the pollution was contained and the harbour, boating lake and beaches remain unaffected.’