'The smell is terrible' - Fountainbridge garage flooded with raw sewage

The shop on Lower Gilmore Place has temporarily closed.

Mr Jahan has been forced to temporarily close the shop.

The owner of a Fountainbridge garage has lost thousands of pounds in business after a blocked drain left his shop flooded with raw sewage. Angle Park Auto Centre was flooded after heavy rain on Wednesday night, leaving serious water damage and a ‘terrible smell’ long after the dirty water was drained away.

Owner Kamran Jahan, 42, told the Evening News that the shop was first flooded two weeks ago when a blocked drain just outside the shop on Lower Gilmore Place caused flooding within the garage.

But despite assurances from Scottish Water that the issue was a priority and would be fixed within seven days, on Wednesday night the premises was flooded for the second time in the 15 years that Mr Jahan has worked there.

The pit was filled with water.

The most recent flooding was ‘much worse’ than that of two weeks ago, and Mr Jahan has had to close the shop as the equipment is still too stained by sewage for his employees to operate.

The pit was completely filled with water, which has since been drained.

But Mr Jahan has had to turn many customers away as the first instance of flooding damaged the electric motors of brake-testing machines used in MOTs.

After the most recent flooding he was forced to temporarily close the shop, and he estimates that the ordeal has already cost him thousands of pounds in lost business.

The smell in the shop is 'terrible' after the flooding.

“This is now about five times worse than the flooding two weeks ago, I was out until 3am on Wednesday night with Scottish Water,” he said.

Representatives from Scottish Water have drained the flooding and cleaned the shop, but have not been able to repair the equipment or fully remove the traces of sewage.

“I’m going to have to get a professional cleaning company out, the sewage water is disgusting,” Mr Jahan said.

“The boys refused to work today, it’s filthy and the smell was really terrible.”

Some equipment was permanently damaged.

The cause of the problem has also not been fixed.

“If it rains again, which it is forecast to do over the weekend, exactly the same thing is going to happen,” said Mr Jahan.

“I’ve been on the phone to Scottish Water so many times but no-one seems to be taking responsibility.

“The brake fitters will cost £10,000 to fix, so I’ve already had to contact my insurance provider.

“I think I’m going to have to phone environmental health as well,” he said.

A Scottish Water spokeswoman said: “We are aware of an issue with the sewer network in the Lower Gilmore Place area.

“We have identified a collapsed sewer two metres underground which has led to some flooding and will carry out a repair as soon as possible.

“We are liaising closely with local customers to keep them updated and apologise for any inconvenience.”