RESIDENTS of a road that has seen a sewage pipe burst five times in two months say they are refusing to pay their water supplier until it is fixed.

Homeowners in Orient Road, Lancing, say they will not be paying their direct debits to Southern Water after sewage spilled into the street yet again.

Nigel Sweet, who lives in The Broadway near the crossroads with Orient Road, says he and his neighbours are going on a "payment strike" following the burst.

Nigel, 63, said: "VWe’ve given notice to Southern Water that we’re on payment strike and not paying our direct debits until a proper repair and resolution to the sewage problem is complete.

"Several other local residents have joined in to show our collective anger at the fifth sewage flood in eight weeks."

He added that 11 people have so far informed the company that they will not be paying their monthly fee.

Nigel told The Argus: “It’s not just the fact it’s happening regularly, which it is, there is no remedy. They have stopped the leak and now we have three big holes I the roads around here covering half the road.

“There is always that risk it is going to come into the houses. Three bungalows further down from us have actually had sewage in their houses. We’re all in fear of it, it’s not ideal before Christmas."

Southern said yesterday that they were working "as hard as possible" to fix the issue.

The Argus: Flooding yesterday afternoon in Orient Road, Lancing Flooding yesterday afternoon in Orient Road, Lancing

A spokesman for Southern Water said: "We are working on a burst wastewater main running under West Way in Lancing and are extremely sorry for the inconvenience this is causing both local residents and road users in the area.

"We fully understand the frustration this is causing people, as this same length of pipe has been the subject of ongoing issues in the past couple of months.

"Recent work has been undertaken to line parts of the main to try and prevent future bursts, but we will revisit this work as a matter of priority to evaluate what more can be done.

"Tankers will be operating in the area to support the repair so that customers can continue to use their kitchens and bathrooms as normal, and therefore it is possible some traffic management will be required once again on the A259 to allow them to operate safely.

"We are sending customer liaison officers to the area to support those affected, and wish to assure them that we will be working as hard as possible to make a repair and be away from the area as quickly as we can."

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