THE kebab shop which closed voluntarily as the hunt for the source of the Newport typhoid outbreak continues was flooded with dirty water following last month's storms, neighbours have revealed.

Now, as Gwent health officials test a fourth person to see if he has contracted the disease, business people in Commercial Road, Pill, Newport, are asking if there is a link between the outbreak and the floods.

Sam's Kebab Shop, in Commercial Road, Pill, remained closed today, while health experts investigated a possible connection between the premises and the three youngsters struck down by the disease this week.

The three, two boys aged 11 and 16, and Anne-Marie Hughes, 13, of Dolphin Street, Pill, are recovering and are expected to be released from Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital in the next few days.

The kebab shop owner, who has links with a number of other food outlets in the town centre, told the Argus last night that he was making no comment about the closure of his premises.

The man, who would not give his name, said: "I own the building and am helping with the investigation, so have no comment to make."

But Robert Smart, from Smart Electrical Ltd, the shop next door to Sam's Kebab Shop, said: "We have been flooded out twice this year. And when we had the storms last month the water in our cellar was a foot high after coming from our drains.

"And I know that it was the same in Sam's next door, and at Pill Angling.

"I got on to the council, who said that it was the responsibility of the water board. I phoned them but could not get any answer, I just kept getting an answer machine saying they were too busy to take our calls.

"And it is not the first time that our drains have overflowed. We have been flooded out three times in the past five years, and twice this year alone."

A spokesman for Welsh Water could not comment on the claims of flooding from the drains, but added that no-one in the area had anything to fear from the mains water supply.

"The investigation is being carried out by the health authority and we will co-operate with them fully," he said.

The latest person undergoing tests for the disease is a 23-year-old from the Malpas area, who was referred to the Royal Gwent Hospital complaining of food poisoning.

A Gwent NHS Trust spokesman confirmed last night that the man was receiving blood tests to determine whether or not he had contracted the disease.

The spokesman said: "He is with us tonight, undergoing blood tests, but the indications from the ward suggest he does not have typhoid fever."

The patient's partner told the Argus that he was discharged from hospital last week after complaining of food poisoning but he returned last night after showing all the signs of contracting the disease.

She said: "His mother contacted his GP explaining he was showing all the symptoms of typhoid fever."