Disgusting raw sewage floods Newcastle's Westmorland Road in vile leak near school and college
A “disgusting” stream of what appeared to be human waste was spotted flowing down a busy street on the edge of Newcastle city centre.
Raw sewage was seen leaking out of a drain and running down Westmorland Road on Monday morning.
The vile health hazard has sparked concerns for students walking to the nearby Newcastle College and youngsters at neighbouring Our Lady & St Annes RC Primary School, which was closed for an inset day on Monday.
Stephen Mitchell urged city authorities to “act fast” to resolve the problem, after seeing passing cars spraying sewage as they drove through the sludgy substance.
Northumbrian Water told the Local Democracy Reporting Service on Monday afternoon that it had been able to clear the blockage, which it said had been on private pipework that it was not its responsibility to maintain.
Mr Mitchell, who parks in the West End and walks down Westmorland Road to get to work, first noticed the problem last Friday and assumed it was an overflowing water pipe.
But when he returned on Monday morning he was met with the revolting sight and smell of human waste appearing to be leaking out of a manhole cover outside the Blandford Court apartments and running down the road towards Newcastle city centre.
Mr Mitchell, who lives in Dudley in North Tyneside, told the LDRS that the situation was “disgusting”
He added: “I was there telling people to cross the road to avoid stepping in it. I saw a car come through and it was like when you have a wet day and the rain sprays up and hits the side of the car. It goes past a bus stop as well, so people there waiting for a bus could get splashed with it.”
Mr Mitchell alerted Newcastle City Council to the problem on Monday morning and called for it to be fixed urgently, worrying that children at the neighbouring primary school could come into contact with the sewage.
The tech startup CEO said: “It is just awful. You see rats in the town and things like grass verges not being maintained, but something like this should be dealt with straight away.
“I am cross about it and cross that I am having to report it, but it has to be done. Imagine a kid getting ill and being sick because of this or a whole class being off school.”
A spokesperson for Northumbrian Water confirmed: “We were made aware of sewer flooding on Westmorland Road in Newcastle and a team attended to investigate the cause. It was found to be a blockage on private pipework which is the responsibility of the owner to clear and clean-up.
“However, flooding like this is not very nice so as a goodwill gesture we cleared the blockage and have cleaned up the area. To prevent issues like this in future, only paper, pee and poo should go down the loo.”