Seaside villagers in Cornwall 'at wits' end' over stench of raw sewage

Residents in a seaside village have complained to the government about the smell of raw sewage around their homes.

Locals of Cornish town Flushing have written to the environment secretary asking for something to be done about the smell, which they claim is from sewage redirected from a nearby pumping station.

They have complained about the smell in the village, which has a population of 700 people, on a number of occasions.

And now resident Jane Maclean has written to environment secretary George Eustice as a last resort to solve the problem.

She said the issue started when the route for waste from the pumping station at Mylor Harbour was redirected through the Orchard Vale line.

She and her husband, Paul, became aware of it when raw sewage bubbled up under their back garden one Father's Day and flooded out their garden and the one next door.

They have since cancelled numerous celebrations, including a 40th wedding anniversary, a 60th birthday and a 30th birthday, because of the smell.

Ms Maclean said her family feel trapped indoors as they avoid the stench.

She said: "For over four years now our household and several other local Flushing residents have been complaining to South West Water about the horrendous smells in our gardens, which occur several times daily.

"South West Water have tried several options to try to rectify the smells but nothing has worked.

"We are at our wits' end with it all. The smells have been so bad recently that we are unable to sit in the garden and all windows and doors need to be closed.

"The smells are not just contained to our property. The neighbouring address have also experienced the same odours and they can also be smelt throughout the village including outside the local primary school, where both our grandchildren currently attend."

South West Water said: “We are aware of some customers in Orchard Vale, Flushing, experiencing odour issues from a sewer pipe in the area.

“The pipe was laid in order to allow a local business to connect a private pumping station to our sewerage network.

“Due to the length of this pipe, flows from the private pumping station are turning septic and causing bad smells.

“We are working with local residents, businesses and the owner of the pumping station to find solutions to these issues and have taken measures such as sealing manhole covers and making pipework improvements to resolve the problem.

“We are continuing to investigate further opportunities and have employed a specialist company to explore a long-term solution.

“We are very sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.”