Patcham: sewage floods bus stop and leaks in streets

Rebecca Kimber, who lives in Patcham, said raw sewage flowed along Winfield Avenue near Patcham High School.

She said that a bus stop outside Jasmine Court, a community for older residents, was flooded with sewage in Brighton on Saturday.

She said: “There was no rain in the area on Saturday, so the sewage was not a result of storm overflows; it was the result of years of development and lack of maintenance and investment in crumbling infrastructure.”

Sewage was flowing down the streets on Saturday opposite Patcham High School and Junior School (Image: Rebecca Kimber)

This incident caused the bus company to suspend its service to this location.

Allison Packman, who also lives in Patcham, said: “My mum lives in Winfield Avenue, which has been a flooding hotspot for years if not decades and worryingly, the situation seems to be getting worse and worse.  

“We regularly get sewage, tissues, and tampons coming up in her back garden and running through the streets. Residents should not have to put up with this.  

“I was totally aghast that on Saturday, a dry and sunny day, yet again we had sewage.”

Residents could not use the Jasmine Court bus stop in Patcham due to the sewage incident (Image: Rebecca Kimber)

READ MORE: Patcham children ‘sick’ and ‘smelling of sewage’ after going to school

Southern Water visited at 7.30pm on Saturday after residents contacted them.

Rebecca Kimber claims when Southern Water arrived, the cause of the blockage had moved off further down the system, and dried, foul-smelling sewage covered the road.

A Southern Water spokesman said: “Our teams attended the site at Patcham on Saturday, 11 May and found the sewer spilling. After investigation, the blockage was found, some of which were wet wipes, and was cleared using water jets. The sewer was left flowing, and the area cleaned.”

At the end of January residents complained about flooding in Patcham after E. coli was detected in a school field. Campaigners pressed Brighton and Hove City Council’s city environment, South Downs and the sea committee for a flood mitigation and drinking water review after being hit by several storms and councillors agreed a solution needs to be found with Southern Water.

Mrs Kimber, also the co-lead of the Patcham Against Royal Mail Campaign, criticised an application by Royal Mail to build a delivery depot at Patcham Court Farm on Vale Avenue.

Campaigners believe this large-scale project would be built on a natural flood defence and would worsen flooding and sewage issues.