Kenilworth residents fed up with nasty stench

The tenants have had enough of the stench.

Marion Miller, of Albion Street, lives on the top floor of the flats next to where the Albion Tavern used to be.

She can see and smell the sewer, which is in the flats’ communal drying area, from her room.

A broken pipe has caused the smell, but the problem has not been adequately dealt with to stop it from affecting residents.

Residents are fed up with the smelly sewer.

Marion said: “It’s affecting everyone. Most people in these flats are pensioners.

“You can’t hang your washing out because there’s raw sewage.

“The smell is horrible. You just think ‘what’s the point? What are we paying our rates for?’”

Marion said the smell is so strong that pedestrians who walk outside the flats can smell it.

And she claimed many residents choose to keep their windows shut even in summer because of how bad the smell is.

According to Marion, Warwick District Council and Severn Trent Water have passed the buck over who should deal with the sewer.

Although workers from both groups have attended in the past, the problems with the sewer have returned again and again.

Marion said: “I’m sick to death of phoning them - we just get fobbed off. We’ve just had to grin and bear it.

“We’ve had excuse after excuse. One gentleman who lives here has reported it and reported it.”

A spokesman for Severn Trent Water said its teams had been out to see the pipe several times and concluded it was a ‘private issue’ which the district council had to deal with.

And a spokesman for Warwick District Council said: “The council is aware of the situation and is taking action.

“Dynorod, on behalf of Warwick District Council’s contractor Ian Williams, attended the site on Thursday January 25 and identified 12-inch pipework that could not be unblocked using traditional methods.”

Following its statement, workers from Dynorod attended the site on Tuesday February 6 to clear the pipe.

The council then said an officer later visited the site and confirmed the drain responsible for the problems was functioning normally.

But Marion said the work, which was similar to what has been done before, will not prevent the smell from coming back permanently.

She said she would be getting in touch with the council once again to complain.

Marion Miller has said the smell produced by a sewer outside her Albion Street council flat has not been dealt with for more than three years.

She said the smell is so bad at times that residents decide to keep their windows shut during summer, and people walking near the flats are still able to smell it.

Marion said she and other residents have tried calling Warwick District Council and Severn Trent Water to fix the problem, but nothing has worked so far.

Marion said both groups had not taken adequate responsibility.