FLOODED out residents are feeling flushed with success after seeing a sewer wrangle come to an end.

The Brindle home owners have been in a long-running dispute with North West Water over a faulty surface water sewer in Smithy Close.

But council chiefs stepped in to resolve the tricky problem over who should sort the repairs out.

Now work has started to replace the length of sewer which will be adopted by NWW - with the county council paying towards the cost.

NWW had claimed it was private and was therefore the responsibility of the both residents and the county council as a highways authority.

Following a three-hour meeting with NWW, OFWAT, residents and senior council officials, town hall assistant chief executive Colin Campbell explained: "We were sympathetic to the catch 22 position the residents found themselves in and had told the parties prior to the meeting that we would take legal action in a bid to remedy the sewer problem unless a satisfactory agreement could be reached."

Council leader John Wilson said he was happy that NWW and the county council had reached a agreement.

"This will result in the faulty length of sewer being replaced and subsequently adopted as a public sewer by North West Water, with a financial contribution from the county council," he said.

"This will not only solve the current flooding problems but will also settle the question of the sewer's formal status as a public sewer once and for all."

The work is expected to take about two weeks to complete. Contingency arrangements have been put in place to deal with the surface water in case it rains.

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