Elderly Banbury couple's two-year battle for ‘dangerous and smelly’ outside drain to be unblocked

The blocked wastewater drain has resulted in the Parker couple being unable to enjoy their garden and has caused unnecessary stress.

Retired couple David and Christine Parker of Beesly Road, Banbury, first complained to their housing providers, Sanctuary Housing, around two years ago about their property’s wastewater gully blocking.

The blocked pipe has led to the couple not being able to enjoy time in their garden due to the smell and not being able to let their dog run freely in case it drinks some of the waste water, causing the couple stress and discomfort.

Christine said: "In the past two years, Sanctuary has sent three contractor companies out to have a look at it and still is not able to solve the problem.

"It’s been a nuisance living here, my husband David can not sit in the garden because of the mess and the smell, it's not been nice at all."

Banbury Town Councillor Mark Cherry for the Ruscote ward has been fighting the case for the Parker couple. He said: "We think the problem is to do with damage from a tree root to one of the underground pipes.

"The house was built in the 1950s and essentially, the gully needs replacing, the pipe digging up and reinstating at this point in time the situation is a health and safety concern to Mr Parker who is 80 years old.

"As a local councillor for Ruscote, I sit on the Sanctuary Housing committee that oversees maintenance. On a whole, sanctuary housing normally fixes maintenance issues fairly quickly, but cases like these need to be noted for future reference so Sanctuary Housing can improve maintenance repair times.

"On this occasion I feel that sanctuary housing should rectify the drainage issue as soon as possible enough for the tenants as an apology.”

Since first speaking to the Parker couple and Cllr. Cherry, Sanctuary Housing has organised another visit to the property by contractors and hopes to have the problem resolved soon.

A spokesperson for Sanctuary Housing said: "A specialist contractor has carried out a full inspection of the drains and having identified the cause of the issue, the required repair work has been arranged for Friday March 3."