St Leonards flood: Business left counting the cost after sewage floods warehouses

Skinners Sheds, which has several warehouses in Bexhill Road, said its premises were flooded with sewage and mud, leaving the firm unable to operate.

Deeday White Jr, owner, said: “It’s a nightmare. I have loss adjustors coming tomorrow (Wednesday, February 8) to assess the damage. We have lost thousands of pounds of stock.

"We have three big warehouses and every room has been flooded with sewage and mud. The electrics have all gone as well. We’re not even allowed to go on the site at the moment. Our yard is normally used by 20 people. The whole factory unit is now completely dead.

"They said the pipe would be fixed on Saturday but it’s now Tuesday and it’s still not been fixed.

A major clean-up operation is still under way following Friday’s incident.

Almost 20 homes were affected after the leak affected Bulverhythe Road early on Friday morning (February 3). A pavement also collapsed. Engineers from Southern Water then closed off the road and footpaths.

Southern Water said there were 50 tankers in the area as of yesterday (Monday, February 6) and a spokesperson for the firm said they will remain there until the issue has been resolved.

The spokesperson said: “We’re sorry for the disruption the leak in our sewer pipe near Bulverhythe is continuing to cause. Clean up teams are active to support the properties affected and we are ensuring our customers get the support they need.

“Repairs to the pipe are going well and we will continue working until they are complete. In order to ensure customers can use their facilities as normal and to protect the environment we are using tankers to carry flows for treatment until the sewer pipe is repaired and back in operation. In total, 18 properties were affected but three had internal flooding.”

It is not the first time the area has flooded due to sewage leaks. On July 28, 2021 there was a major sewage leak at Bulverhythe. Southern Water was first sent to a burst pipe under the cycle path at Bulverhythe beach, Cinque Ports Way. Two days later there was a second serious sewage leak which flooded nearby beach huts and affected the beach.

St Leonards flood: 50 tankers in area as clean-up operation gets under way following sewage leak

St Leonards flood: Aerial picture shows extent of damage caused by sewage leak

St Leonards - major sewage leak floods homes and closes road