Barcombe sewage: Southern Water apologises for any distress after ‘foul smelling liquid’ leaks in village for weeks

Photos of the sewage from another Barcombe resident

Southern Water has apologised after Barcombe residents reported that sewage had been leaking in their village for four weeks.

Resident Anne Livesey told the Middy on Sunday, October 6, that 'foul smelling liquid', which had been confirmed as sewage, had been leaking across the main road at the bottom of School Hill, into the Bevern Stream and on to Barcombe Mills.

She said: “This splashed onto and from passing cars and bicycles. Pedestrians and animals must have carried some of this home on footwear as there is no pavement there.”

She said that the leak had started in early September and said she watched Southern Water investigate a sewage outflow pipe on Friday, October 6.

A contributed photo of the sludge after the sewage had been cleared

East Sussex County Councillor for Chailey Division Matthew Milligan said: “I am extremely concerned about the length of time it has taken for this to be investigated and remedied. The residents of Barcombe were subject to this for weeks. I hope a full investigation will be carried out.”

A spokesperson for Southern Water, said: “After receiving reports of a possible sewer leak in Spithurst Road in Barcombe, East Sussex, we carried out a complex investigation and established that the cause was a fractured sewer, Specialist teams repaired and then re-lined the pipe. We would like to apologise to the local community for any distress and inconvenience caused, and for the amount of time it took to fix due to the complexity of the work and investigations.”

Anne added that it was difficult for people on foot or bicycles to avoid splashes from the sewage if vehicles were passing in both directions. She said: “On a bicycle one needed to pull out and there were no warning signs to slow vehicles or to indicate to them that this wasn’t simply rain water.”

The road after the sewage had been cleared in Barcombe

She said the issue raises questions about whether Barcombe’s sewage systems and demands can be met in the future and whether extra sewage from new housing developments can be accommodated.

The Southern Water spokesperson said: “Any pollution incident is completely unacceptable to us. We remain committed to our ambitious target to reduce pollutions by over 70 per cent between 2020-2025. We have seen a year-on-year improvement in performance as a result to changes we have put in place, such as the installation of 24,000 sewer level monitors, but we know still have work to do to meet the expectations of our regulators and our customers.”