A road in Chalford was flooded with sewage after a storm last week, with those affected blaming a road resurfacing job by a council contractor.

When a manhole cover overflowed in the village on May 21, sewage poured down the High Street, coming through the wall of one house and interfering with electrics.

Residents affected say responsibility for the dirty disaster lies with Amey, an infrastructure contractor hired by Gloucestershire County Council to look after highways.

“The road was resurfaced here last year by Amey and rather than take the old surface off they just put another layer of tarmac on top, raising the level of the road and changing its camber,” Lynda Dainton - who lives on the High Street - told the SNJ.

“We asked Amey to reinstate the road as it had been - they wouldn’t do that and instead dug the road up and put it drains to direct the surface water into the sewer.

“When it rains heavily, a lot of surface water ends up here and the sewer is unable to take it.”

Severn Trent Water, who sent a van the following morning, said in a statement: “We’d like to apologise for the inconvenience that was caused by a manhole cover overflowing in Chalford after the heavy rain yesterday.

“The sewer system appears to be working normally again.

“To make sure there are no problems further along the pipes we’ll be getting a team out to put a camera underground and check everything is working as it should be.”

Amey says they are now working with GCC and Severn Trent Water to investigate and rectify the issue.