RESIDENTS in villages around Salford Priors who have battled for years to get connected to the main sewers have said they are tired of Severn Trent's broken promises.

People in Rushford, Pitchill and Iron Cross have been forced to manage with expensive septic tanks and cesspools for years and thought the time had come for them to be connected to the mains supply like residents in nearby Salford Priors.

But Severn Trent recently informed Doug Wathen, a Rushford resident who complained to Severn Trent about their lack of action, that no work to connect village houses to the sewer has been planned.

Mr Wathen, who has lived in the area for 30 years, said he was disappointed because Severn Trent executives visited the area last year and he thought they had agreed the current arrangement was a health problem.

Mr Wathen now feared that connection work would not be carried out until major water works were planned in the area.

"In this day and age you would have thought that this sort of thing would be a priority, for health reasons at least," he said. "They've made no firm decisions and I'd rather they just told us they were going to do the work, but not for three, six or twelve months, than say nothing at all."

Severn Trent spokesman Alister Foye told the Journal: "A group of residents can apply to the local authority for a S101A, which is an application for first time sewerage, but they have to demonstrate the existing system is causing some kind of environmental health problem, backed up by the Environment Agency."

He said this system was in place because Severn Trent must clear all funding for such work with its regulator, OFWAT.

Mr Wathen said he thought this process had already been completed and he now planned to investigate further.