You might die before leak is fixed, Southern Water tells widow, 88

Southern Water told an 88-year-old widow that it could take so long to fix a sewage leak affecting her garden she might “die with the problem”, her son claimed.

Daphne Hayward loved spending time in her garden, which was planted by her late husband Stan.

But at the end of last year, the pensioner noticed stagnant water and lavatory paper rising from the drains which made a “mess” of her flowerbeds and caused plants and furniture to lift.

Southern Water have been unable to fix the problem and Mrs Hayward has been reduced to tears talking to them about it, claiming one engineer suggested she may die before it is sorted out.

The great-grandmother from Lymington, Hants, would get ‘‘upset’’ every time it rained and has now had to move out of her home as the sight of the garden has become unbearable.

Mrs Hayward moved into her home with her council worker husband and their three children in 1964.

Her only son Nick said the family first noticed the sewage problem at the end of last year.

The 63-year-old said: “In February, it happened just over five times and we had two before Christmas. It just goes and comes back again.

“The beds are a mess, the plants are all lifted, and the furniture has all moved.

“There’s a white haze across the whole garden. It looks like a milky white solution and there’s toilet paper everywhere. It just looks like a slurry over the garden.”

Mr Hayward, a gardener, said the outdoor area had never flooded before last year and this is a problem that is affecting other houses in the area.

Mr Hayward asked workmen at the water company who were clearing the garden what was causing it.

He said: “I asked them what the problem was and they said the pump was not big enough to pump all that’s gone through it.”

Despite this, he said Southern Water is now insisting the problem has been caused by “blockages”.

Mr Hayward said it has caused a lot of stress and upset for his mother – and a conversation with someone at Southern Water brought her to tears.

Mrs Hayward has had to stay with her daughter

He said: “Mum asked the engineer ‘Am I going to die with this problem?’ and he said ‘Yeah, maybe.’

“Mum can’t live in sewage, every time she sees a bit of rain she gets upset. She spent years out there when Dad was alive. It was lovely.

“Mum’s okay, she’s just fed up with it all. I have seen her in tears which, I had never seen. It’s really sad.”

Mrs Hayward couldn’t bear the sight of her ruined garden anymore so has had to go and stay with her daughter on the Isle of Wight.

Her son is hoping to clear the garden up so she can return. Southern Water has been approached for comment.