Newhaven residents 'ignored' by Southern Water as houses continuously flood for two years

Homeowners in Lewis Close say they have experienced flooding every time there has been a heavy downpour in the last two years.

Those living in the area have claimed that rain water flows out the plugholes of their sinks and baths, as well as coming through their back doors.

Councillor Sean Macleod, Liberal Democrat Lewes District councillor, said: “I have been helping homeowners on Lewis close now for around 16 months when I was approached the first time.

“Lewes District Council came and delivered sandbags to several homeowners and we all worked together to stack them the best we can to protect homeowners, but we can only do so much we can’t help with the water/sewage that is coming up through sinks and bathtubs.

"This is screaming out to be an issue with the sewer network, but we just don’t understand what Southern Water are doing and the lack of action we are seeing from them.”

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The district council says it is investigating the situations and confirmed that Southern Water has said the issue is related to problems with its sewage network.

Councillor Macleod continued: “Homeowners are contacting Southern regularly requesting help, Southern turn-up and then that is all that happens until next them they flood. It is simply not good enough that a multimillion-pound company treats residents with such a lack of respect.

"We hope that with press attention and public shaming Southern finally kicks into gear, after all around 7 homes are being flooded on a regular occurrence.”

A Southern Water spokesperson said: “We know how distressing flooding can be. We inspected and cleaned our systems in the area and they were all performing well. Flooding is a complex issue with many agencies having differing responsibilities. We have been in liaison with the council’s highways department which is responsible for surface water drains.

"November saw extraordinary rainfall with more than 2 billion litres falling on our region – 255 per cent more than in an average November. In such conditions drains and sewers can both be overwhelmed.”