Dad makes 'vile' find after ripping up decking as sewage floods into garden

A Skelton dad has been left furious after sewage spilled all over his garden due to an issue with a nearby pipe.

Chris Nesbitt says he had no idea there was an issue until sewage started leaking from the drain at the front of his house, in Marlborough Road, spewing across the drive and even onto the footpath. The 36-year-old claims he lifted up his decking and says he was met with "sewage everywhere" - and was immediately hit with an "absolutely vile" smell.

He was told the pipe blockage had taken place in a neighbour's garden and contacted his insurance, but claims he was initially told they couldn't do anything. Northumbrian Water then carried out an emergency assessment, finding that it had been blocked with concrete and grout, and that a full sewer repair was required.

Chris says he is now worried that the various issues - which include both the decking and his conservatory where sewage has leaked to - are going to cost him thousands of pounds to fix.

Northumbrian Water has said that, while it is not strictly responsible for sewer flooding events when they are due to blockages caused by third parties, it carried out a full sewer repair and offered to complete a full clean-up if the decking was removed. AXA Insurance said that upon review, it will now be covering the damage to his property caused by flooding.

Chris, who has lived in Skelton for 13 years, said: "We haven't noticed any issues at all until maybe two weeks ago we started having sewage coming out of our drain at the front of our house and spewing across our drive and on the footpath.

"So we rang up the insurance company that I have and they came out and did a quick check and they found out that the blockage was further down the road.

CCTV captures 'sewage' leaking across Chris Nesbitt's drive (Image: Chris Nesbitt)

"Because it was off my land they then couldn't do anything about it. So they put me onto Northumbrian Water who I spoke to and they came out and confirmed it was there."

He added: "You couldn't smell anything until you lifted that first board up and then it just hit you. It was just absolutely vile. Northumbrian Water has come out and assessed it. They have tried a lot of different things and found they have got issues surrounding a pipe in a neighbour's garden."

Chris says he is unhappy that he had been left to "foot the bill". He claims he was told he would have to lift his decking up for a clean to take place then put it back down again. His conservatory floor has also been hit by the damage, with Chris having to pull the flooring up before finding insulation "absolutely soaking wet."

Block caused by concrete and grout

Northumbrian Water has said the issue was blocked with concrete and grout, meaning a full sewer repair was required. A comment stated: “We understand how distressing sewer flooding can be and although we’re not strictly responsible for sewer flooding events when they are due to blockages caused by third parties, we’ll always try and support our customers wherever possible.

"In this instance, within one hour of being made aware of an issue by Mr Nesbitt, our teams were on site to carry out an emergency assessment of the sewer pipe. Our teams attempted to unblock the sewer, however, they found it had been blocked with concrete and grout, and a full sewer repair was required.

A pipe issue has caused sewage to spew across Chris Nesbitt's garden and front drive (Image: Chris Nesbitt)

“This was carried out and we used vacuum suction to remove as much of the floodwater as possible under Mr Nesbitt’s decking and have offered to complete a full clean-up if the decking is removed. Mr Nesbitt has refused this help and we are unable to assist further.”

In response to this statement, Chris said he asked to speak to the manager but claims he was told the manager was unavailable. He said during a phone call he refused Northumbrian Water entry until he had spoken to a manager about the situation.

'Thousands to fix'

Chris claimed his insurance company, AXA, would not pay out as the incident may have been ongoing for a number of years and the damaged pipe was in his neighbour’s boundary. However, an AXA spokesperson has since confirmed it will now be covering the damage to his property caused by the flooding.

A statement read: “We are sorry for the delay Mr Nesbitt has experienced with his recent home insurance claim. Mr Nesbitt has provided additional information regarding this claim and upon review, we can confirm that we will be covering the damage to his property caused by flooding.

“We have been in contact with Mr Nesbitt to arrange a visit to his property to assess the damage and costs and we have offered additional compensation in recognition of the delay he has experienced.”

Chris, who has now had to return to his job offshore after taking time away to carry out repair work, said his neighbour rang him earlier this week to say a smell had returned.

Chris lives in the home with his girlfriend and five children,who love the outdoors and aren't able to play out in their garden due to its current state. He continued: "We got a new trampoline that we got for Christmas that we can't put up because when I have gone to put it up I've obviously found this. Otherwise they would just be on that all the time."

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