RESIDENTS’ in South Cerney were outraged after a water pumping station failed twice in 24 hours – resulting in putrid sewerage flood water spilling into their gardens.

Kingfisher Place in South Cerney was swamped after the nearby station on Robert Franklin Way failed last Wednesday evening (January 8) and in the early hours of the following day.

Following heavy rain, water spilled onto the streets from overflowing drains but the station shut down and had to be repaired twice by Thames engineers before the water could be drained away.

Lorraine Orpanides, a Kingfisher Place resident, who had floodwater in her garden and porch, said: “Obviously you do not want flood water in your house Thames need to do something. It is not just a problem now. It has been a problem that has been going on for ages. They need to update the system. I think it is a Victorian system and it just can’t cope.

“It is a problem with the pumping station, there is an alarm system on it which activates and cuts out the power when there is a lot of water. They are meant to come out immediately when the alarm trips but they don’t. ”

On Thursday morning, following the second failure of the station, the Standard spoke to a Thames Water engineer outside the pumping station, who explained that the problems were caused because the “control system went”.

A spokesman for Thames Water said that due to severe flooding nationwide in the past few weeks the company did not have time to comment on individual cases at the moment.

Anthony Crawford, Thames Water’s head of waste network, in a statement on the company’s website which refered to the recent flooding, said: “This is an extremely challenging time for us as we wait for river levels to peak and for rainfall to ease. We’re seeing alarms in our pumping stations going off at triple the usual rate and we’re plundering every available tanker we can find to help pump away excess water.

“We’re working closely with the Environment Agency and local authorities to monitor the situation and direct our teams to high priority locations.”

Have you been affected by flooding in South Cerney ? If so email your views to bmc@wiltsglosstandard.co.uk