'My neighbours are unable to use their front doors' - Kirkliston families cut off from play park by flood of sewage

Homeowners say that Edinburgh City Council promised the issue would be dealt with last week but the waste is still polluting the street.

Kirkliston residents have been unable to use their front doors for seven days after a clogged drain led to a raw sewage puddle forming between their properties and the local play park.

Homeowners say that Edinburgh City Council promised the issue would be dealt with last week but the waste is still polluting the street.

'The smell is disgusting'

Kieran Burns says his family has been cut off by a puddle of sewage outside their door.

Kieran Burns, 40, who has lived in his Maitland Hog Lane property for 15 years with his wife Louise and their three sons, Kieran, 11, Joseph, 13 and Adain, 17, said: “We have been left with a puddle of stinking raw sewage right outside our door.

"The smell is disgusting, unhygienic and becoming dangerous because of the bad weather and how often the path it is on is used. My neighbours are unable to use their front doors because of the mess. It is a disgrace and utterly unacceptable.”

He added: “If we lived in the centre of the city this would never have happened, the council seems to have just forgotten about the problem.”

The family of five first noticed that there was water gathering around the drain on Tuesday last week and contacted Scottish Water about the issue on the same day. They were told that as the drain was the council’s responsibility.

Kirkliston residents have been unable to use their front doors for seven days after a clogged drain led to a raw sewage puddle forming between their properties and the local play park.

Kieran and other residents then contacted the council and were told that the matter was urgent and someone would be out to “have a look” as soon as possible. He said: “We contacted the council and were told that someone would be out on Thursday to handle the situation. This was over four days ago and we have had no further communication with the council and the sewage puddle is still there.”

Kieran said that he, alongside the other three homeowners of the affected properties had contacted the council since then but had had no response from the local authority.

He said: “My neighbours have been left in a situation that they cannot use their front doors and we cannot access the local play park without jumping over the wall. It absolutely stinks but it’s also very dangerous, it’s on a path that people use every day to take their children to the playground or walk their dog. If it’s dark you would think it’s just a puddle and just go straight through it.”

He added: “It’s completely intolerable to be left to live like this for a week. Especially because we reported it properly and the council said they would be out to help.”

Revisiting site

A council spokesperson said: “We appreciate residents’ concern and planned for repairs to be carried out on Thursday, as discussed. Upon visiting the site, contractors found that additional work would be necessary and have arranged to revisit the site today. We apologise for any inconvenience in the meantime and would like to assure residents that we are working hard to resolve this problem.”

A Scottish Water spokeswoman said: “This drain is the responsibility of City of Edinburgh Council. Scottish Water is responsible for the main sewer in the area, which we investigated on January 24 after being contacted by a customer. We found no issues with the sewer and advised the customer to contact the council.”

Late yesterday, the council said a contractor had removed a blockage, the drain was running clear and no further work was required. The waste was also removed.