A SPOKESPERSON for South West Water has apologised to customers affected by the sewer flooding in Salcombe earlier this month, and said this was ‘caused by blockages in the pipe’.

Two weeks ago, floods hit several parts of the town, including Fore Street, Island Street, Sandhills Road and North Sands.

A spokesperson for the company said: ‘We apologise to customers who experienced sewer flooding in the road in Salcombe, which were caused by blockages in the pipe.

‘These have now been surveyed and cleared of both road building debris and fat oil and grease. It’s worth remembering to dispose of fat, oil and grease in the bin rather than down the drain, as they block the pipe and can cause sewer flooding.

‘South West Water has invested £1.5 million in alleviating sewer flooding in Salcombe with a project that began in November 2015.’

‘Once complete this should improve the flooding situation further. We’d like to thank the people of Salcombe for their patience and understanding during the work.’

In July, South West Water announced that the flood alleviation scheme had 'finished in time for the summer holidays', following eight months of disruption in the town.

Significant work took place in Cliff Road, Robinson’s Row, Whitestrand car park, Fore Street, Bonaventure Road, Allenhayes Lane, Greenville Road, Raleigh Road, Kingsale Road, Camperdown Road, Allenhayes Road, Loring Road, Acland Road, Herbert Road and Courtenay Park, requiring 15 road closures over the eight months.

Project manager Andy Young said at the time: ‘We have successfully removed large volumes of surface water from the foul sewerage network, which will alleviate flooding to roads and properties during heavy rain.

‘Surface water from the Fore Street area now discharges to the sea from a new surface water outfall at Whitestrand Quay, which will ease the pressure on the network.

‘Unfortunately we have been unable to construct a second planned surface water outfall at Clifton Place due to the depth of the existing pipe and its proximity to listed buildings. Further investigations are required followed by a design review in order to develop a proposal and programme to undertake the work this coming winter. We will also need to return to Herbert Road to connect some additional highway gullies.

‘This has been an extremely challenging engineering project and we’d like to thank the people of Salcombe for their patience and understanding during the work.’A spokesperson added: 'When the details and planned duration are known for the additional work on Clifton Place and Herbert Road discussions will be held with the relevant businesses, residents and council to determine the most appropriate time to undertake the work.'