A PENSIONER was disgusted to find raw sewage flooding her driveway following heavy rain.

Recent rainfall caused some drains to overflow in Benfleet leaving Joan Lark’s driveway and garden covered in a disgusting mess.

Mrs Lark, 87, of Church Road, Benfleet said: “It’s been going on for years. I usually hose it down, but this time it is worse.

“We had a downpour last Wednesday and then another on Monday morning. Up came the manholes and there was the usual sewage. I try not to look.

“I was very tempted to hose it back down again.”

Mrs Lark, who has lived in Benfleet for more than 50 years, used to try toclean the mess herself.

She said: “It really is becoming worse, but it has overflowed for about 30 years but now it is raw sewage and it is up the side of the house and the drive.

“I’ve been sorting it on my own.

“Something has got to be done about it.

“You have to have a strong stomach.

Horrified by the amount of raw sewage destroying her garden and driveway, Mrs Lark and neighbours contacted Anglian Water to complain on Monday.

Anglian Water took three days to send a team to sanitise the mess.

Mrs Lark said: “I’ve been waiting since Monday for someone to clear it, but no one has come to sanitise it.

“It seems they have ignored me so I just sort of gave up, but because it has got worse I do realise something has to be done.

“As you get older you just don’t want a lot of fuss.”

Concerned resident and drain engineer Ken Slaney, 71, added: “It’s disgraceful, her garden is full of sewage.

“How they are going to clean it all up I don’t know.

“It’s disgusting it has been allowed to go on for so long.”

ANGLIAN Water apologised for the mess and assured Mrs Lark would send an engineer to her home.

Antony Innes, from Anglian Water, said: “We are very sorry that Mrs Lark, and her neighbours, have been affected by sewage flooding their driveways and gardens. An engineer will be visiting her to clean up and disinfect the area. The time taken to respond to the call is regrettable and not up to the usual high standards we set ourselves.

“We have had to prioritise work in and around Benfleet following recent heavy rain. Hopefully customers will appreciate that we must attend jobs where flooding has happened inside homes, or where environmental pollution is a risk, before we are able to clean up people’s gardens.”