Lancing sewage leak: Video shows anger of residents after latest burst just days before Christmas

Heavy sewage flooded onto pavements and driveways on Wednesday afternoon (December 22).

A pipe reportedly burst on West Way, near Bristol Avenue. The fourth burst in three months on the same residential estate comes a week after Southern Water made emergency repairs to a burst sewer on Orient Road. This, at the time, was compared to a 'scene from a disaster movie'.

Southern Water said it was 'extremely sorry' after the latest burst and revealed its action plan. Click here to read more.

A video, shared by local resident Phil Harley, demonstrated the frustration among homeowners.

In the footage, which shows high levels of sewage flooding the road, a resident can be heard exclaiming: "You can't make this up, can you?

"This is just ridiculous.

"That is flying out the ground."

Some social media users, who live in the area, have threatened that they won't pay their water bills until the problem is fully fixed.

Southern Water issued an update this morning (Thursday, December 23).

Its social media statement read: "We are continuing to work hard on a burst wastewater main running under West Way in Lancing and are extremely sorry for the inconvenience this is causing both local residents and road users in the area.

"Tankers are now managing the flow of wastewater fully, so that homes can continue to use their services as normal.

"With the flow through the pipe stopped and the burst site cleared, we were able to access the burst overnight, and today the repair can start.

"Clearing the area as much as possible and protecting people's property is our focus – with an extensive clean-up also planned for once the repair is complete."

Southern Water said it 'fully understands' the frustration among residents, as the same length of pipe has been the subject of 'ongoing issues in the past couple of months'.

The statement continued: "Recent work has been undertaken to line parts of the main to try and prevent future bursts, but we will revisit this work as a matter of priority to evaluate what more can be done.

"Traffic management is required on the A259 to allow the tankers to maintain continuous support to flow management safely.

"Customer liaison officers are onsite again today to support all that are affected. We are working to make the repair and return the area to normal as quickly as possible. Customers who want to call us can do so on 0330 3030368."