West Way in Lancing to be disinfected after sewage pipe bursts

The pipe exploded at around 11am in West Way, Lancing, yesterday.

Southern Water arrived at around 3pm and apologised to residents, adding that it had been “just days away” from undertaking work on the pipe.

Tankers have now cleared the flooding, which means disinfection and digging the burst pipe up can take place.

The sewage in West Way, Lancing yesterday

A spokeswoman for Southern Water said: “We continue to work hard on a burst wastewater main in Lancing.

"We are extremely sorry for the ongoing disruption and distress caused to our customers. Our liaison team is on site to provide support and will be there for as long as needed.

“Overnight our tankers and pumps cleared the flooding so we can now start digging to reveal the burst and decide on a method for repair.

“This morning we will also be prioritising the clean-up and disinfection of the pathways and roads. We will work with customers to ensure any driveways affected are also thoroughly cleaned.

The sewage flooded the road "kerb to kerb"

“To allow all this work to happen safely, traffic management must stay in place on the A259. The A259 is a busy route, and we are very sorry to all road users that will be impacted by this.”

This morning, the A259 in Lancing saw more than one mile of traffic and heavy delays due to temporary traffic lights put in place while work went on.

It is unclear how long it will take to fix the latest burst, the sixth time it has happened since last October on the same two kilometre stretch.

Tankers in the West Beach area last year

Nigel Sweet, who lives in nearby The Broadway, told The Argus: “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.”