A Fife pensioner claims she has suffered 17 years of seeing raw sewage spew into her garden, after the building of a new housing estate.
Marion Campbell, 75, has been made miserable in her Gowkhall home after her garden became littered with household waste and she claims this is due to a pipe laid down when Premier Properties built new homes at nearby Dean Park.
Ms Campbell said: “There has been no change from 1996. When Premier Properties built the new houses at Dean Park they put a big drain in to pipe water down from them.
“They stuck this pipe three feet into my garden but it’s not all water that’s coming out of it. It has been spewing raw sewage frequently into my garden. I’ve had to put up with sanitary towels, condoms, toilet paper, everything.
“At one point it was happening several times a week. You could see the waste dangling on the nettles.”
Ms Campbell claimed she has been constantly ignored by the water authorities she contacted to sort out the mess at her Clune Road house.
“It’s been going on forever. Every time I got somebody out from the environment it’s the same old story. What’s the point in me phoning if they don’t make any difference. I said, for my own health’s sake, forget it.
“The chap who came out yesterday said he might get somebody out to survey the place in case it was getting me down and I wanted to move. I told him he’d be wasting time as there is a problem and this would take thousands off the property.”
Her brother, Duncan Campbell, added: “It’s stinking and this is driving her crazy. She clears the mess up herself. If she wants to sell the ground, who is going to want to buy that?”
A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “We had not been made aware of any issues at this property until receiving a call from The Courier.
“One of our local waste water network experts attended this property today and is arranging for a full network investigation to take place.
“The issue that exacerbates any risk of storm water or waste water flooding above any other is the wrongful disposal of sanitary waste and fats down toilets or the sink. This causes massive problems in our waste water network.
“Scottish Water dealt with over 920 sewer chokes last year in the Dunfermline area, a large number of which were caused by inappropriate items being flushed down the toilets of homes and businesses.
“We urge local people to bag it and bin it with sanitary waste and only to flush toilet paper. Baby wipes, cleaning wipes, sanitary towels and any other bathroom waste should be put in the bin.”
Premier Properties was contacted by The Courier but did not provide a comment by the time of going to press.