A 'raw sewage' leak in playing fields was caused by wet wipes being flushed down toilets as a concerned councillor warns residents to keep their children and dogs away.
The sewage has been pictured bubbling out of a drain at Warndon green, the playing fields at Shap Drive in Worcester by Cllr Ed Kimberley on Wednesday as it formed a bog in the grass.
A video created by the Warndon and Elbury Park councillor shows a puddle in the playing fields rapidly becoming a bog just yards from a popular public footpath as he branded the situation 'outrageous'.
Cllr Kimberley created a video to let residents know where the leak was and has also reported it to Severn Trent Water, asking it to be treated as a priority while warning residents not to venture near the leak.
He said: "This is absolutely outrageous. This is a leaking drain which is horribly foul-smelling. You will forgive me if I don't get any closer to it. It is actively leaking water laced with raw sewage out onto this field.
"This is on Warndon Green. So you see all of the playing field around here, very popular public footpath and here is the leak. It is draining out water all the way into the field and out into there.
"It's delightful. This has been reported to Severn Trent and we're hoping to get action taken very swiftly."
He added: "I would strongly advise against walking on this patch of green and keep your dogs off it as well. If you've got dogs or small children make sure to keep them off this patch of green. That foul smell is not something you want to investigate.
"Residents on Hawkshead have been complaining for weeks of a strange and foul smell, and Severn Trent has been out to investigate it before with no luck."
"Severn Trent is aware of the problem and has written to say they will investigate. I don't yet have a clear indication of when the problem will be fixed however, so would continue to urge people to keep off that area."
A Severn Trent spokesperson said: “A team attended the site yesterday and discovered a blockage in the sewer which was cleared and the area fully cleansed.
“The blockage was found to have been caused by items including wet wipes which had been flushed down the toilet. Even wet wipes marked as ‘safe to flush’ can form blockages like this – alongside fats, oils and grease - which can result in unpleasant flooding issues.
“Every year, our teams clear two and a half tonnes of wet wipes from our network so we always ask people to dispose of anything that isn’t toilet paper in the bin, to help avoid situations like these.”
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