CONTRACTORS have been lambasted for taking five days to clear raw sewage from playing fields.

The mess was left at Horsdean Recreational Ground in Patcham, Brighton, on January 5 after city council contractors unblocked a toilet in the area.

The waste covered part of the field as the unblocking work, carried out at night, caused a leak from a manhole at the ground.

However, Patcham ward Councillor Lee Wares, the Conservatives’ environment spokesman, has criticised the length of time it took for the mess to be cleared.

He said: “Only by chance we noticed the fenced-off area and to our horror discovered it was because there had been a raw sewage spillage on the playing fields.

“It is of concern that the council’s contractors took over five days to return to clear it up and only after our intervention came back again to remove some topsoil and the fence, some ten weeks after the spillage.

“It is wholly unacceptable to leave raw sewage on our playing fields and to take so long to clear it up.

“Such events must be a priority.

“The fact that no warning and hazardous waste signs were erected made the situation even worse.”

The contractors then erected the fence as a precautionary measure “until the waste could be cleared properly in the daylight”, Brighton and Hove City Council said.

However, the fencing was only removed on Monday.

But Cllr Wares believes the problem should have been dealt with immediately and said there had been a lucky escape.

He said: “What with raw sewage being left on our playing fields and rotting refuse piling up on the streets of Patcham and Hollingbury we are lucky to not have had a series of public health issues.

“Getting the basics right clearly isn’t happening.”

Horsdean Recreational Ground, in Vale Avenue, is a popular field in the city.

The space is used for amateur football matches and cricket games during the summer.

It is home to Patcham United Football Club’s small- sided teams – from under-sevens to under-tens.

The council said it has spoken with the contractor about why the fencing was not taken down, and apologised for the situation.

When asked if the waste was there for more than one day and why was this allowed to happen, a council spokeswoman said: “The contractor cleared the blockage at night and the fencing was put up as a precautionary measure until the waste could be cleared properly in the daylight.

“On January 5, work to remove a blockage in a toilet at Horsdean caused leakage from a manhole at Horsdean recreation ground.

“As the work was carried out a night, fencing was erected around the affected area until it could be thoroughly cleaned.

“The area has been cleaned and fencing has now been removed.

“We do appreciate it was an unfortunate and unpleasant situation and we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused to users of the park.

“The fencing erected was a temporary measure to deter people from walking over the area of the spillage.

“Once the spillage had been cleaned up, ideally the fencing could have been removed straight away.

“We have spoken to our contractor about this as it has led to the assumption that the waste hadn’t been removed, when actually it had.”

The council has not yet told us which contractor carried out the clean-up work at the recreational ground.