Stream of sewage runs down Gorebridge street

Horrified residents have complained after a blocked sewer left a stream of raw sewage running down a Gorebridge street during the summer heat.

Powdermill Brae, Gorebridge.

Residents on Powdermill Brae were disgusted by the appearance of sewage outside their homes. Scottish Water confirmed it had received complaints from people living in the street just before midday on Wednesday, August 4, and immediately sent a team to investigate.

One residents took to social media to alert Midlothian Council to the problem telling the local authority, “sewage running down the hill in our beautiful countryside, sick of it”.

The council passed on concerns to Scottish Water – who said the problem was caused by a blocked sewer which had overflown onto the street, with the most likely cause of the blockage being a build-up of items being flushed down toilets, including wet wipes and sanitary products.

A spokesperson said: “We were made aware of sewage overflowing on Powdermill Brae on Wednesday morning by local residents contacting our call centre.

“A team attended the site in the afternoon and identified a blockage in the sewer which was cleared.

“Once one of the manholes had drained, the team identified damage to the manhole which is now scheduled in for repair.”

Claims the issue had been caused by the sewage system being unable to cope with new housing built in the area, Scottish Water insisted it worked with developers to ensure the systems could cope with additional demand.

And it urged people to stick to the 3 Ps when it comes to flushing things down the toilet – toilet paper, pee and poo.