Sewage leak in Belton caused by people flushing away baby wipes and cotton buds

The problem of sewage spilling onto a Norfolk village road and into a dyke has been blamed on people flushing baby wipes, cotton buds and fat down sinks and toilets.

The leak happened in Stepshort in Belton on Monday afternoon, leading to police closing the road to traffic.

It happened at an Anglian Water pumping station that was part of a recently completed £3m flood improvement project.

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: “This week we had an issue at Stepshort pumping station which resulted in a sewage leak. The issue at the pumping station was caused by a pipe blocked with ‘unflushables’- including fats, baby wipes and cotton buds - thrown down sinks and toilets in people’s homes.

“Every year Anglian Water staff clear thousands of blockages from the region’s pipes. If fat ends up down the sink it can cause a major headache.

“It sets hard in the pipe and mixes with other ‘unflushables’ causing a hard to shift blockage.

“To allow our teams to complete the repair work safely we closed the road between Belton and Burgh Castle.

“Our teams worked quickly to resolve the problem- unblocking the pipe, completing an emergency deep clean and taking samples along Stepshort Dyke to ensure there was no impact on the water quality of the dyke.

“The pumping station is back up and running and the road was reopened at 7pm the same day.”