Sewage leak for allotment holder in Alconbury

An allotment holder says a sewage pipe burst flooded his plot with waste - ruining the crops he had been tending.

Andrew Hose said the top two feet of his allotment in Alconbury may have to be dug out and replaced because of the damage.

Mr Hose has been in talks with Anglian Water over what can be done with the allotment which was hit a second time when the initial repair started to leak again.

“All my crops are ruined,” said Mr Hose who had spent more time at the allotment this year because of the coronavirus lockdown.

He said: “The meeting with Anglian Water was very productive and a number of options were discussed.

“Initially, they propose testing the soil to discover the extent of the problem, then depending on results will either advise on how long the plot must be left before it can be used again or will remove the surface soil, possibly to two feet depth and then replace it with clean topsoil.”

Mr Hose said two or three other plots had been affected by the leak but had suffered only minor damage.

He believes an old four inch cast iron pipe running to the nearby treatment works had been responsible for the leak and said that there had been another leak about three months ago when another plot was affected.

Mr Hose said he had been at his allotment when he noticed water coming out of the ground and called another allotment holder over.

“While we stood there it just got worse and worse and worse. It just came pumping out and flooded the whole plot with raw sewage,” he said.

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: “We’ve been working with the Alconbury parish councils and allotment owners following a sewage spill, caused by a damaged pipe last month. While, there was no obvious cause for the damage, our teams undertook a full clean up, repaired the pipe and have offered the allotment owners a delivery of new top soil as a gesture of goodwill.”