Last updated at 11:37, Wednesday, 08 August 2012

RAW sewage was flowing through a pensioner’s back yard after flash flooding burst drains and caused extensive damage.

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Horace Dytam spent yesterday morning sweeping up the mess from his garden, in Dalton, after an hour of dramatic downpours.

The 72-year-old was faced with a flood of faeces, used condoms and toilet roll after the drain running under his Newton Road yard began spewing its contents.

Neighbours rallied to help with the six-hour clean up operation, before United Utilities arrived in the early afternoon to clean-up the mess.

Mr Dytam said: “We were in the kitchen when the heavens opened.

“The slabs over the manhole cover came right up.

“We had to put towels by the back door but it only came up as far as the top of the step.

“We were told to take a bath or a shower, because of the risk of typhoid.”

The downpour hit Dalton and the surrounding areas at about 10am yesterday.

Properties in Newton Road bore the brunt of the damage, with United Utilities confirming 14 homes were flooded.

A crew from Barrow fire station was called to help pump the flood water out of houses.

Speaking at the scene, Alan Maguire, station manager, told the Evening Mail: “It was such an unusual downpour that the drains could not cope with it. We had numerous reports of flooding around Dalton yesterday morning.

“The water was up between one and two feet inside the homes so we just tried to pump it out.”

Courtney Wiseman, 17, came to his neighbour’s aid after seeing the flooding from his bedroom window.

He said: “I was woken up by the thunder and when I looked out of the window I saw the neighbour’s garden was full of water.

“When I got there they were all stuck in the kitchen. The water was waste high in the garden.

“I had to go in through the window and we started emptying the water out with a bucket.

“It was up to our thighs but we managed to get it down to about one foot high.

“When they opened the door to the living room more came pouring back in.”

A spokesman for United Utilities added that the flooding had caused a power outage at the Newton Road pumping station, which led further flooding, until it was back up and running in the afternoon.

Police had to close Newton Road, at the junction with Long Lane, and Hollygate Road for a period after the flooding caused surface damage.

There was also deep standing water on the A590 past Lindal causing long tail-backs and surface water on many other roads in Furness made driving conditions difficult.

A Met Office Yellow Warning is in place for today with heavy, thundery showers expected throughout.

First published at 08:41, Monday, 06 August 2012
Published by http://www.nwemail.co.uk

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