There has been an angry reaction to South West Water's refusal to provide a solution for a sewage-blighted Kingsteignton housing estate until 2015 at the earliest.

Now fears are growing that the Teign Estuary shellfish industry could be affected if a nearby stream is polluted.

Householders in River Close find untreated waste pushing up through manhole covers and bubbling into sinks and baths following heavy rain.

A sustained campaign to have the matter resolved has been met with promises and investigations but no solution.

South West Water said it had not budgeted for remedial works at the 32-home development that only went up two years ago on one of its former treatment works.

Instead, it has offered to consider including the project in its next five-year spending round meaning it could be 2020 before action is taken.

The position has prompted County Cllr Mike Walters to suggest that pollution could reach the Teign estuary.

'Yet again the same old rhetoric,' he told the Advertiser.

'The problem has been established by SWW in as l From page 1

much as it stated there is a design fault and the system is in a low-lying area of land.

'The risk to shellfish waters seems to have raised the issue to a different level of debate. Yet nothing seems to move SWW where public health and safety is also a major issue.

'To glibly state that there is nothing that can be done in solving the problem until post 2015 is beyond a joke.

'SWW will need to incorporate an emergency plan to accommodate the future risk when we experience heavy rainfall in the area, not leave it to be planned with a priority attached to it.

'The priority is very high and should be categorised as such. SWW have been lucky so far in that substantial rainfall has not yet been experienced.'

A spokesman for the firm said it was investigating short-term solutions to safeguard watercourses and shellfish waters.

River Close resident and deputy mayor Cllr Rose Howes said: 'What about safeguarding the health of their customers when we have contaminated liquid bubbling up through our sinks and toilets?

'We as a county have the most expensive water rates in the country, I feel they are not only letting us down as consumers but charging us for services that they are not providing to the standards that they should be. 

'If this problem affected 50 or 100 households then it would have been delt with months ago, I feel because it is only affecting a handful of families that they feel they can leave us to suffer.'

A Teignbridge Council spokesman said the authority had followed due process when issuing planning permission and urged the parties involved to protect human health and the environment.

'Our environmental health team is working closely with South West Water and Persimmon Homes regarding River Close to make sure that these problems are solved as quickly as possible,' he said. 

'In planning terms, foul drainage is not in the council's jurisdiction and putting in appropriate systems was a matter for the developers and South West Water to agree.

'The most important thing now is making sure that something is done to fix the problems, even if it's a short-term fix while plans are made for a longer term solution.

MP Anne Marie Morris has added her voice to the campaign. She said: 'I am glad that South West Water have acknowledged responsibility for this problem but they must develop a sustainable, long term solution to avoid future occurrences.

'The residents of River Close have been blighted by this issue for too long and action is needed now.'

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Teignmouth shell fisherman Peter Full, who is a member Teign Musselmen's Society, said he viewed any threat of pollution in the estuary with 'huge concern'.

'Our mussels and oysters are famous for their taste and purity, and any sort of pollution would be a huge blow to us.

'We certainly support all efforts to persuade South West Water to ensure this problem with the stream is dealt with as swiftly as possible.'

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