Man fuming as Llanyrafon allotments flooded by sewage

We're never far away from the next rainstorm here in Wales, but for John Nicholls, 79, a downpour means more than just having to break out his brolly.

Mr Nicholls rents out an allotment at the Llanyrafon Social Club in Llanfrechfa Way, where he has been growing plants and vegetables for the last two years. 

However, he says his work is being continually interrupted every time it rains, when the allotments are flooded by filthy rainwater and sewage that seeps out of the pipes and drains on site and renders his patch useless. 

According to Mr Nicholls, the flooding has already happened four times this year alone, with the heavy rainfall leaving an inch of sewage that means he cannot use the site he pays £80 a year for. 

He said: "As soon as it rains, it becomes this dirty inch of sewage that seeps into my patch and means I can't use what I'm paying for. 

"It's impacting 17 of us, although there are many more allotments further up that might get affected if this isn't resolved."

Mr Nicholls' allotment is consistently being flooded by sewage (Image: Newsquest)Mr Nicholls said the issue has been going on for years, and he has been in contact with both Welsh Water and the local council. 

He claims Welsh Water has told him the problem is sewage getting into the drains from further down in the pipework, while Torfaen Council has told him it is to do with storm drains in the area. 

He continued: "We are furious that nobody seems to want to know about it - we've had people from the council and Welsh Water come out and not be able to give us an immediate solution. 

"At the moment, the only ones that are happy about the state of our allotments are ducks!" 

Mr Nicholls has built a temporary blockage to try and stop the flooding from getting into the club or the car park each time it rains (Image: Newsquest)When we visited the site last week you could smell the sewage from the car park, and the allotments had been flooded with an inch of sewage in a just a few hours of rainfall. 

Mr Nicholls added: "I just don't think it's fair that we are being forced to try and resolve these issues ourselves when it's clearly a whole community problem - I've already had to build a temporary blockage at the gate into my allotment to try and stop some of the flooding, which isn't really a permanent solution."

Torfaen Council confirmed it had raised the issue with Welsh Water, and is working with them to find a solution. 

Welsh Water said it is aware of the flooding at the allotments following heavy rainfall, and is currently investigating the cause. 

A spokesperson said: "We are investigating the cause which we believe is linked to water getting into the system which shouldn’t be there which then causes it to overflow during heavy rain. Our investigations will include us undertaking a CCTV survey of the system.

"As part of our ongoing maintenance of the system in area, we routinely check it to ensure it is free of any anything that could be restricting flow through the pipes. 

"We will keep those affected updated of the findings of our investigations once they are complete."