'Disgusted' homeowners say foul smelling 'sewage' has run through Sheffield street for over six months
Homeowners in a Sheffield neighbourhood say they can’t even sit out in their gardens because of the stench of what they believe to be sewage from a leaking pipe.
Residents in Ashfurlong Road, Dore, have been plagued with foul-smelling water trickling through their street for over six months. They say it smells of sewage.
The stream is seeping out of a small maintenance pipe, running along the roadside and soaking into dead leaves for around 50 metres.
Yorkshire Water is investigating the source to establish where it is coming from and who is responsible for fixing it.
Sheffield Council has also been contacted about the issue to try to get to the bottom of it.
One homeowner, Glyn Holbrow, told The Star how he can’t get into his home without driving through reeking mud and “tracking it onto my drive.”
He said: “We’ve got grandchildren and I daren’t let them out on their bikes so they don’t touch it.
“We’re really frustrated. It’s been like this for six months and it’s disgusting.
“Most people have been reaching out to the council, the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water, but it’s like no one wants to know.”
Other neighbours told The Star they “can’t sit their gardens” for the smell and have to “drive through it or step over it” to get to their homes. One woman said she sees people pick up their dogs and carrying them over the trickle so they don’t step in it.
“It’s a health hazard,” said homeowner Roger Wilson, who lives more than 150m from the dribbling pipe, but still must put up with it on bad days.
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said: "We understand situations like this can be frustrating for residents. We are working to eliminate possible sources of the water escaping onto Ashfurlong Road to identify who is responsible for it, which may be a third party.”
A number of Yorkshire Water trucks have visited the site over recent weeks, but the problem persists.
New homes on Ashfurlong Road and nearby Blue Ridge Close were built between 2006 and 2010, following the demolition of a number of other structures.
A common belief among residents on Ashfurlong Road is the sewage is leaking from a underground septic tank from before the development. Others believe nearby tributaries from nearby Limb Brook or Bushey Wood could be responsible.