'Contaminated water floods my garage'

A man from Horley has said his property has been affected by flooding with water contaminated with E-Coli.

Steve Pelham who lives on Lee Street opposite the Horley treatment works, says he wants answers from Thames Water after a second flood in five weeks.

He told BBC Radio Surrey: "The problem is when it rains and the river rises the treatment works can't hold all the water and it floods people's properties."

Thames Water has apologised to residents who experienced external flooding on Lee Street earlier this month.

Mr Pelham said: "The contaminated water flooded my garage."

He said he had no raw sewage in his garage but when he tested the water it showed traces of E-Coli.

"I had general garage bits in there, such as a lawnmower and a fridge freezer but the cost and damage adds up after a while.

"Some people walk their dogs here so it isn't just a problem for residents."

Mr Pelham added: "There has been no communication from Thames Water and no mention of compensation either.

"I dread what is going to happen every time I look at the weather forecast and see rain is scheduled."

A Thames Water spokesperson said: "Our teams investigated and found this was due to the heavy rainfall and high river levels, overwhelming our sewers causing wastewater to back up out of manholes.

"We recognise how stressful flooding can be and are working with the environment agency to help put short term mitigation measures in place.

"In the long term we'll be upgrading our Horley sewage treatment works which will increase the sites capacity and help reduce risk of flooding."

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