Residents blamed for blocking drains as human waste spills into streets of Shrewsbury development
Residents of a housing development in Shrewsbury are being told that blocked and overflowing foul drains are their fault because of what they have been putting down toilets and sinks.
Campaigners say it is a "scandal" that some parts of the Sutton Grange development off Oteley Road have been covered in human excrement as a result of blocked drains. They want action from the water company, the council and the developer.
Town and county councillor Bernie Bentick said: "It's a scandal that Shrewsbury’s streets are covered in human excrement as a result of blocked drains, which is not only repulsive but also a health hazard.
"Have we returned to the squalor of the past, where it is acceptable for human waste to be released into the streets?"
Councillor Bentick and local Lib Dem campaigner Victoria Moore say that the residents "simply don’t believe that the problems are due to items being put into sinks and toilets".
Councillor Bentick fears that the drains in Shrewsbury may not be up to the task. He has called for "independent evidence that the Shrewsbury drainage system is fit for both current demand and the additional needs of all new developments".
Fellow Lib Dem campaigner Victoria Moore said that one resident had told her: "When we moved in our downstairs toilet was not draining properly. They tried to blame us, saying we must have been flushing wipes down there, which we hadn’t. They eventually had to dig up our front garden, and found a brick end in the pipe which had been left from the builders."
