PEOPLE were having to side step sewage in Lindley after a drain blocked and overflowed.

Part of Lidget Street was overflowing with sewage water, from the library to the junction of Thomas Street, yesterday.

It seems the blocked drain meant sewage and rain water built up on the roadside. Neighbouring drains were covered with leaves, leading to pools of sewage and water building up where cars were parked.

Tajinder Singh said: “I went into the hairdressers and 20 seconds later it was all coming down.

“I went out and I got splattered and it’s all over my car. Raw sewage was flowing down the street quite fast. You can’t even walk, it’s covering the whole street.”

Dave Hinchliffe said: “It smells horrible, I could cope with the water, but the smell is just awful.

“You can see how it’s happened, it’s like a domino effect, one drain gets blocks, builds up and because there’s leaves everywhere there’s no where for it to go. It was waiting to happen.”

Yorkshire Water workers on site said drains workers said it was a piece of wood and a build-up of detritus which had blocked the drain.

A company spokesman did not provide further details before the Examiner went to press.

A Kirklees Council spokeswoman said: “One of our team has been up to Lidget Street to investigate and has said that the problem is raw sewage which can only come from a blocked sewer (and as such will have nothing to do with leaves).”

The council’s Refuse and Street Cleaning team added: “We hire in additional mechanical sweepers for about 10 weeks leading up to Christmas to help clear leaves.

“Areas are prioritised according to need and we aim to get round all areas at least twice in that period. In addition, the regular manual and mechanical sweepers clear leaves as part of their normal workload.

“If we are notified of a particular problem we will assess it and prioritise attention wherever possible. We will arrange for Lidget Street to be inspected and take appropriate action.”