THE city's sewage system is 'woefully inadequate' but people should not be flushing condoms and wet wipes down the toilet says a flooding expert after a drain began spewing out raw sewage. 

We reported last week how raw sewage was pouring out of a drain in the middle of Waverley Street in Diglis last Thursday after heavy rain.

Now the cause of the blockage has been revealed - wet wipes flushed down city toilets which had to be cleared by Severn Trent Water engineers. 

Worcester News: DIGUSTL Jo Musson next to the drain as raw sewage gushes out, flooding Waverley Street in Diglis DIGUSTL Jo Musson next to the drain as raw sewage gushes out, flooding Waverley Street in Diglis (Image: James Connell/Newsquest)

Resident Jo Musson expressed her disgust as raw sewage including toilet paper, poo, sanitary towels and condoms spewed out of the drain after heavy rain.

However, she said of Severn Trent Water: "We are all very pleased with how quickly they addressed the issue."

Mary Long-Dhonau, known as 'Flood Mary', is a former resident of Waverley Street and said she and others campaigned hard for a pumping station in the late 1990s to stop the regular flooding of the area after heavy rain and it was opened in January 2001.

Mrs Long-Dhonau said: "I led that campaign to get a pumping station to stop all that regular flooding in Waverley Street - and like the flooding we saw last week. The pumping station was going to stop all that. Something is defective and it's not doing the job it was meant to do - and I feel disappointed it's not doing its job."

She also described the drainage infrastructure of Worcester in general as 'woefully inadequate'.

"As Worcester is getting bigger, the system just can't cope," she said.

The flood expert said, judging from the number of condoms in Waverley Street, it was good to see residents are 'practising safe sex' but that only poo, pee and paper should be flushed down the toilet.

Mel Allcott, the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate, said the situation showed the need to transform the way water companies operate.

Mrs Allcott said: “This is a stark reminder of the challenges our city faces, particularly during bad weather conditions. Flooding, coupled with the overflow of sewage onto our streets, is not just a matter of inconvenience; it poses a serious threat to public health and the environment.”

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She said Liberal Democrats have consistently championed campaigns for improved water and sewage management and advocated 'increased investment in upgrading ageing infrastructure'.

Worcester-based Gareth Mead, Severn Trent’s Network Protection and River Rangers lead, said: “Our teams were quickly on site in Diglis last week to deal with flooding caused by a combination of heavy rain and a sewer blockage, which included wrongly disposed of wet wipes.

"The blockage was cleared and a thorough clean-up operation launched, which is due to be completed today (February 14) now that floodwaters have finally subsided.

“We have seen exceptionally heavy rainfall in recent months, including 10-named storms, but we do understand how distressing this kind of flooding is to local people.

“We can all help towards preventing blockage-related incidents like this in the future if we avoid putting the wrong things down our loos by sticking to only flushing the ‘three Ps’ – paper, poo and pee.”

In October Severn Trent unveiled plans for a £12.9bn investment programme across region, including Worcestershire. As part of those plans, Severn Trent will be investing more than £100m in Worcestershire projects such as flood protection, boosting water quality and improving overflows.