A STREET has been struck by a “fountain of sewage” – the sixth incident of flooding the area has seen in less than a year.
The “repulsive” flooding in West Way, Lancing, was caused by a burst water main.
Neighbours say the pipe burst this morning around 11am and filled nearby roads from “kerb to kerb”.
Southern Water arrived to drain the road at around 3.15pm, according to people living in the area.
The street has already flooded multiple times in recent months.
Nigel Sweet, who lives in the Broadway, said the latest incident did not come as a surprise.
He said: “We had been out shopping and came back to see it bubbling up, exactly the same as before.
"It’s like deja vu. It’s the same sort of scale, flooding down the road.
“It is actually in West Way, it looks like it’s coming out of multiple places in the pavement and road at quite a rate.
"It’s like a little fountain of sewage if that’s not too horrible a thought.
“It’s coming round into The Broadway where we live and has filled kerb to kerb along our road, the smell is absolutely repulsive.
“It’s obviously lovely sunny weather but in terms of the smell and having windows open, it makes it 10 times worse than in the winter.
“Southern Water have arrived with tankers, people are walking around with hard hats on.”
The Argus visited Southern Water’s HQ in Yeoman Road, Worthing last week where the company provided insight into previous problems in the area around Orient Road, which flooded five times between October and December last year.
Southern Water also bought six tankers for £7 million so “fewer customers will notice” when there are burst pipes in Sussex. There are smaller tankers at the incident today instead of the company’s new fleet of tankers.
Nigel said the flooding is impacting on people’s day-to-day lives in the area, stating that one person asked him not to include their house number in his picture as they are trying to sell their house.
He added: “It’s that sort of thing, it’s not just the obvious aspect of the sewage.
"We have someone letting out their house on Airbnb, there is no way anybody would pay for an Airbnb let if you can’t open your windows and it stinks outside with sewage outside your front door.”
A Southern Water spokeswoman said: "We are extremely sorry for the disruption caused by a burst wastewater main in West Way, Lancing. Our customer team is already onsite and we will do all we can to support people.
"We completely understand the distress felt by the residents who are yet again affected by flooding in their road.
"This is particularly frustrating as we were just days away from undertaking a re-lining scheme to future proof the pipe.
"Our priority is now to stop the spill by using tankers to take on the flow of wastewater – the tankers carry out crucial work meaning that many nearby homes can continue to use their kitchens and bathrooms as normal.
"Once they are in place the pumping stations serving the pipe can be switched off and we will start clearing up.
"To allow all this work to happen there will be traffic management in place on the A259. This allows work to be undertaken safely without a complete road closure.
"The A259 is a busy route, and we are also sorry to all road users that will be impacted by this."
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