Villagers in Pickworth are fed up with the trickle of smelly sewage from a manhole in Folkingham Road and blame Anglian Water, which recently installed a public sewage system.

But Anglian Water claims it is not at fault and blames a contractor employed by a villager to connect their property to the main sewer system.

A spokesman said: "Customers have the responsibility of making the final connection from their property into the sewer, and we suggest various contractors and plumbers.

"But one of the customers has gone to a contractor to do the connection who has not done a good job and there's some fairly regular overflow from the sewer.

"We've been pumping it regularly to alleviate the problem.

"It's not legally our responsibility to sort it out, but we've agreed, as a gesture of good will, to repair the mistake the contractor has created."

The spokesman said the repair is a low priority, but fed up villagers are tired of waiting.

Amy Cheesman, 83, said: "I'm sick and tired of calling Anglian Water about it.

"They keep saying they will get someone to look into it. They come and that day it's fine, but the next day, swoosh - it's all down the road.

"The smell is horrendous. The people on the buses call us Stinky Pickworth."

Mrs Cheesman's neighbour Fred Watson, 71, said: "It's raw sewage and it's running past our front gate so I've got to walk through it to get indoors."

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