RESIDENTS in Drove Road were faced with a foul sight and smell on Monday morning as they found their gardens full of raw sewage.

After a night of heavy rain and wind houses with sewer covers in their back gardens had to deal with bubbling fountains of excrement and toilet tissue, forced to the surface by a collapsed sewer running under the homes in the street.

Adults kept their children and pets indoors for all of Monday and Tuesday while Thames Water investigated.

Tankers were drafted in by the utility company to pump the sewage away from the houses on Monday and prevent it happening again until the main sewer is repaired.

Cristiane Moreira, a 34-year-old mother of two, who was faced with an ankle-deep mixture of sludge and sanitary towels, said: “I saw it on Monday morning and it was pouring out.

“It isn’t safe for my eight-year-old son to go outside in the garden. It needs to be cleaned up.”

Tracy Watts, a 44-year-old telephonist says she does not feel it safe for her cat to go outside while there is sewage there .

“It was raining very hard on Monday morning, and that was simply washing it down the garden, spreading it around,” she said.

“Thames Water had been round and said the main sewer had collapsed and they have identified where it is.

“They didn’t say they were already aware of the problem when I called but they have been good in dealing with the problem.

“They are going to repair the sewer and clean out the garden then hopefully, because I don’t feel safe doing it.

“It’s not safe and it’s not good. I’m home from work ill at the moment and it’s far from ideal.

“No one wants to go outside and clean it up, but it needs to be done.

“They need to be here quickly, there is no way I can go out there and do it.

“This has never happened in the five years I have lived here.”

A Thames Water spokesman said: “We’re really sorry for the mess and will make sure everything is thoroughly cleaned-up.

“We will also be monitoring the collapsed sewer closely from now on and, when needed, use a tanker to pump out any sewage until it is fully repaired.”

The cause of the collapse remains unknown.