Herefordshire villagers blame Severn Trent for mucky floods

People in a Herefordshire village say they are fed up with flooding, which they blame on a lack of capacity in the local sewerage system.

Bircher ward councillor Dan Hurcomb described the problem, affecting the east end of the village of Orleton between Leominster and Ludlow, as “a slow-motion environmental catastrophe which is having a significant effect on residents”.

It regularly contaminates Brimfield Brook to the north of the village with raw sewage – “yet after five serious incidents between October 2023 and February 2024, still seems to have no prospect of coming to an end”, he said.

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More recent pollution incidents on September 30 and October 16 after prolonged rainfall meanwhile led to tankers being called to bail out the local pumping station – but not before a volume of sewage had entered the brook.

Orleton parish council chairman David Lane, a former senior water and flooding investigator, said it complained to water company Severn Trent Water (STW) in April, but had been given no written response.

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STW “has ignored multiple requests for information, and claim the issue stems from infiltration into the sewer system”, he added.

“In our analysis this is simply implausible,” he said. “The regular and sustained flooding of the King’s Road during prolonged rain can only result from direct surface water connections into the former ‘foul-only’ system, which Severn Trent not only know about, but in many cases has approved.”

Demonstrators make lots of noise at Orleton sewage pumping station. (Image: ROB DAVIES)

Both councillors question the claim by STW that there was capacity in the sewerage system when the recently completed 39-home Captains Meadow development, immediately south of the brook, was approved. This too is now affected.

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Severn Trent waste team manager Jessica Hamlett said it had been liaising with the parish council “to help understand and address local people’s concerns” while also carrying out work on the ground including CCTV surveys of infrastructure.

“There are ongoing investigations that we need to carry out and we’re committed to coming back to the council with an update as soon as possible,” she said.

Coun Hurcomb added that Orleton’s problem is by no means unique, and that in the neighbouring villages of Kingsland, Yarpole and Luston, “systems are not working as they should either – yet all are targeted for more housing”.