By Bradley Jolly
Stomach-churning footage shows a mother's toilet overflowing with sewage \- leaving her with a £30,000 bill.
The mum of five was unable to live in her house after the waste spewed from the loo and destroyed the downstairs of the property, including the brand-new kitchen. Her children have had to stay at their grandmother's house since the nightmare mess happened in March.
In the clip, dark brown liquid can be seen constantly spilling out of the toilet at an alarming speed. The sludge then rushes out of the bathroom and into the hallway, where it continues to cascade through the house in London.
Towels are seen lining the floor but appear powerless to absorb the sewage. A mains sewage pipe which runs under the house had clogged, but Thames Water reminds Brits only pee, poo and paper should be flushed down toilets.
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The mum of five said: "I think the damage would come to something like £30,000 if you include everything I've lost and the work that will need to be done. I spent so long doing that house up and it is just heartbreaking watching it get completely ruined. My property is at the lowest point so when the pressure builds up. It all just came flooding out."
The toilet first overflowed on March 17, completely destroying skirting boards, flooring and the family's new kitchen. Plumbers spent most of the day pumping the sewage out of the home and clearing the blockages inside the main sewage pipe. But the next day sewage overflowed from the toilet again, causing further damage.
"I just remember shouting to the kids to get towels to do whatever we could to stop it but there was too much. I just got the kids out and waited for the plumbers. There wasn't anything we could do," the mother continued.
The woman said she was told the root cause of the blockages appeared to be people flushing non-flushable wet wipes down their toilets. She was also warned that the sewage could even flood out of her kitchen sink if the blockages kept happening. It comes as the Tories were criticised for failing to go far enough in their plan to ban the sale and supply of wet wipes.
The parent added: "I know the local council have sent letters to people to tell them about the dangers of flushing these wet wipes but they don't listen. They've even had people go knocking on doors too and they still haven't listened - you can't educate people like that."
The Mirror has approached Thames Water for comment.
