People living in Treloar Road, Hayling, had to face the disgusting filth and smell of up to 18 inches of sewage spewing up through manhole covers last month.

The most recent flood, on January 22, was blamed on the rain by Southern Water - even though residents say it was only "drizzling."

Now Les Smith says enough is enough and the water firm must make sure it never happens again.

The 55-year-old builder said: "There was toilet tissue and excrement, the stink was awful.

He said: "It was made worse because buses come down our road and they were washing it all into our front gardens.

"The problems lie with the pumping station in Bosmere Road because the switch trips. Why does this keep happening?

"Why don't they do something about it? It's not just the road but the footpaths and gardens which are filthy.

"I measured it was 18 inches deep in some parts.

"All the time the sewage is there it's running down the normal drains and into the sea."

Mr Smith said many of his elderly neighbours were trapped in their own homes by the flood water because they did not want to go out and step in it.

He says it is the third time the road has been flooded with sewage after it happened last summer and in February last year.

Residents say the road has still not been cleaned up by Southern Water.

A spokeswoman for the water company said the problem was a tripped switch in the pumping station caused by heavy rain.

But residents say it only rained lightly on and off during the day in question..

Leilah Nicola, from Southern Water, said: "Two pumps tripped out and we are looking into what caused this to happen.

"Pumps tripping can lead to flooding, even in light rain. A combination of factors have caused past flooding incidents.

"Treloar Road can flood when others don't because it is very low-lying.

"In the past the road has also been flooded with surface water when the outfall becomes tide-locked.

"Other causes have included one-off blockages and the pumping station becoming overloaded with stormwater.

"We will investigate if any improvements can be made to the system here.

"We're sorry the residents have found our customer service unsatisfactory. It fell below our usual standard."

She promised to send a crew back to the area to clean-up thoroughly.