Ayr mum in sewage flood fight

Sep 25 2009 by Edwin Lawrence

Paula Walker

PUTRID filth poured into a house when a drain outside backed up.

And a family has lived with the stench for over four months.

But Scottish Water won’t fully compensate mum-of-three Paula Walker.

“It was a nightmare when it happened, and it’s been a nightmare ever since,” said Paula, 36.

“Two neighbours did everything they could to bail out what was coming up through the sink.

“Filthy water and sewage was also coming up through my dishwasher and out of my washing machine.

“I couldn’t believe what was happening that night,” added Paula, from Kincaidston in Ayr.

“It was about two hours later before a drain-cleaning truck arrived outside.”

Paula felt reassured when Scottish Water said they would organise a clean-up of her kitchen.

And she was told she could claim off the giant publicly-owned company’s insurance.

But all that happened was a rather ham-fisted clean-up of her kitchen.

Linoleum had to be lifted, but the two-man squad said they couldn’t lift the lino under the fridge freezer.

Paula’s solicitor, Gordon Robson, said this week: “Scottish Water deny liability.

“It would now be for the owner of the house, of which Paula is the tenant, to pursue the claim further.”

A Scottish Water spokesman said: “Scottish Water fully understands the inconvenience that internal flooding can cause customers.

“Contractors working for Scottish Water attended as quickly as possible after the incident at the customer’s house and took action to remedy the situation, including a clean-up.

“We gave the customer a Guaranteed Standard of Service (GSS) payment which we give to customers who have had internal flooding to their property.

“Because this was an unforeseen event, and there was no defect with the Scottish Water sewer network, we have no further legal liability and we have informed the customer’s solicitor of this.”