Man's garden was swamped in raw sewage

Andy Temple told how the dirty water seeped into the foundations of his Fairlie property and poured into his cellar during the flash flood.

It reached ten feet deep in places and Andy could only look on helplessly as his garden furniture and hot tub were swept away.

Fire crews spent five hours dealing with the flood and had to smash their way into a neighbouring property in Main Road to evacuate it.

Andy said: "The whole of my garden was covered in sewage. It is a major issue, the drains just can't cope with a deluge of water."

The fuming community councillor has called on Scottish Water and North Ayrshire Council to get together and resolve the situation, saying he had previously given warnings drainage near the A78 was unable to cope after torrential rain.

A day of heavy rainfall last week resulted in the nearby burn flowing ferociously at ten feet deep in some places and there was nowhere for the water to go as the culvert under the bridge was too low.

Andy explained: "The water was coming down at such a pace and up into my garden to such an extent that I began really panicking.

"There was nowhere for it to go. My house is sub-divided with an end cottage and the water was also coming through the neighbour's cellar.

"I live in the property with my wife Nicola, who is disabled. The amount of sewage which was flowing into my garden was phenomenal.

"The sewage in the vacant next door property was pretty bad too, to such an extent that the fire brigade had to smash in the door in to remove what was in the building."

Andy says the water rose to almost four-feet deep in just ten minutes.

He said: "Largs Fire Brigade stayed for over five hours and made sure we got as much water out as they could..

"By the time we had finished the burn had subsided back to around two and a half feet but took until the next day to return to normal."

Andy says he has raised the issue at previous council meetings and insists the flooding issue must be tackled as a priority.

He said: "Instead of resurfacing the road, they should be looking at new ways to handle the water run off and sewage which is all connected to the new development at the top of the hill in Fairlie.

"There is nowhere for the sewage to go as the drainage isn't adequate. "I have never seen the burn that high as that in my life. The water is getting into the foundations and coming into my cellar.

"The drains clearly can't cope with this volume of water.

"Before money is spent on resurfacing the road, it should be spent on fixing the flooding problem first.

"I have been in the house for three years and turned it round into a lovely property but that is twice now that my cellar has been flooded. "I don't know how to remove sewage from my garden and the Fire Brigade have called out Scottish Water for a clean up team to be sent.

"It's not just my home, I would have had serious concerns regarding the safety of the bridge on Main Road which runs over the top of the burn if the water hadn't relented."

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “We were alerted at 5.27pm last Tuesday to reports of domestic flooding in Fairlie.

“Operations Control mobilised one fire engine to the town’s Main Road, where firefighters used pumping equipment to redirect flowing water which was affecting domestic properties.

“Crews made the area safe before leaving the scene."

The flooding in Fairlie also affected the local bowling green.

Club spokesman Eric McMillan said: "We had significant flooding issues with water backing up from the main sewer line.

"The green was very badly flooded.

"Unfortunately, it happened during the afternoon of our ladies section closing day – causing quite a high level of consternation."

A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “Heavy rainfall caused the Fairlie Burn to overflow yesterday which resulted in some localised flooding. Investigations are ongoing to better understand any issues in the local area and we will work closely with the local authority and other relevant agencies to ensure appropriate action is taken to help minimise the risk of future flooding.”

Photos: John Keachie