PARENTS of a three-week-old baby are worried she could get sick because of a burst sewage pipe outside their back door.

The leak has sent raw sewage spilling out of the pipe in Buttermere Drive, Warndon, Worcester, and on to the path which runs along the back of the flats.

Vicci Finch, aged 18, said she and 19-year-old partner Dan Smith were deeply concerned about the health implications of the leak to themselves and their daughter Keelee, born just three weeks ago at Worcestershire Royal Hospital.

Miss Finch was so concerned she sent her baby to stay with her mother Mandy Palmer in Dines Green.

Miss Finch said Worcester Community Housing, the landlord of their £68-a-week flat, had sent a repair man out on Saturday, the day that the leak was reported, and he put tape around the pipe as a temporary fix.

Miss Finch said: "He told us if we didn't pay the call-out charge we would be evicted. It's disgusting. I just want to get away. I'm worried about the baby. "They should have fixed it straight away. It has to be a health hazard."

Craig Geens, assets director at Worcester Community Housing, said he believed the pipe may have been vandalised and 90 per cent of the mess, which had been reported by a community support officer, had been cleared up.

He confirmed charges were made to cover costs if tenants used the 24-hour out-of-hours emergency service, as laid out in their tenancy agreement.

He said some blockages were caused by tenants flushing nappies and other bulky objects down the toilet, although he could not say this had happened in this case.