Residents kick up stink after raw sewage spews on to road

RESIDENTS in Ratho are furious after raw sewage was left spewing onto a main road for at least five days.

A burst sewer duct has left used toilet paper and human waste pumping from the car park of the Ratho Parish Church, onto Baird Road, a slip road for the M8.

People living nearby described the mess as "absolutely foul" adding that they fear the sewage may have run into the nearby Gogarburn waterway, which is just yards from the source.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency has now been called in to investigate.

The sewer, which has extensively flooded the local area since Saturday, also burst in early June, prompting demands from those who live in the area that there should be signs put up to warn people of the health risks.

Retired lab technician Campbell Gillan, 63, who lives nearby, said: "It's a danger to public health - you can see used toilet roll on the street. As the cars drive past they go through the water and it's sprayed everywhere.

"I first noticed this on Saturday, but nothing has been done since then. I've called Scottish Water and the council and have just been passed between seven or eight different departments.

"Children use the canal, especially at this time of year, and there's a picnic area, which people will have to walk through raw sewage to get to until this is fixed."

Mr Gillan added that he and other local residents feared that there was danger of E.Coli spreading from the sewage. He said: "It's happened before in camping and caravan parks, where E.Coli outbreaks have been linked to burst pipes and a lack of sanitation.

"The sewage has been spreading into the field straight across from the church, then into the Gogarburn. The Gogarburn feeds into the River Almond. We need someone to step in and do something now."

Ewan Thorburn, an environmental protection officer for SEPA, said: "Our officers have visited the site and are in contact with Scottish Water and the City of Edinburgh Council to resolve the issue."

A council spokeswoman said its environmental protection team has not yet been called in, but it would investigate any complaints.

A spokesman for Scottish Water said that its sewer response team had been "very busy" elsewhere in the area, but said it would investigate the problem within 24 hours.