A LIVERY yard owner has spoken of her anger and frustration after sewage pipes burst underneath her fields, covering the ground in filth, for the fifth time in 10 years.

Pam Woolsey, 74, who runs Caister Livery Yard in Pump Lane arrived at the yard at 7am on Monday, February 27 to find that a sewage pipe had burst spilling a 50ft trail of sewage across one of the fields.

Mrs Woolsey cares for 18 horses at the livery yard which she has rented for the past 22 years. Along with the stables there is a five acre field and a six acre field.

“I went home about 5.50pm on Sunday and by 7am on Monday it was all bubbling up in the field - it was very bad. It is the fifth time in 10 years that it has happened.

There is a pipe which is around three feet underground and it keeps breaking in places. The problem is that it’s a very old sewer pipe and it’s a mile long,” she said.

Every time sewage contaminates the field, it has to be fenced off for a year, leaving less room for the horses.

Mrs Woolsey said she often found it difficult to contact anyone at Anglian Water to alert them to the problem.

“Anglian Water are not the easiest people to get hold of. The 50 yard sewage stream was bubbling and running right down the field - it looked awful on Monday. It’s raw sewage. We have to have the area fenced off for a year for the safety of the horses so we are going to lose a fair bit of grazing.”

Mrs Woolsey said contractors arrived on behalf of Anglian Water at 12.30pm but they couldn’t start digging until another contractor put a fence up.

She said people who had visited their horses have been upset but understanding about the situation.

A spokesman for Anglian Water said: “We are sorry for the distress and inconvenience caused by the recent sewage main burst near to Pump Lane in Caister.

“The problem was reported to us on Monday morning and the main was repaired, and the site of the spill cleaned, on the same day.

“Our engineers are working with the customer affected to identify options to restore and improve her field.

“We are also looking to possible solutions which will reduce the chances of this occurring in future.”