TRADERS on Ely’s Fore Hill are demanding action over the foul smelling drains they say are plaguing their businesses.

Shop owners and tenants along the busy retail street say persistent bad smells and foul sewage coming up from the drains have posed a constant nuisance to their businesses and they are calling for action from water supplier, Anglian Water.

A recent case saw one resident forced to claim �150,000 from insurance companies because of sewage flooding into his property.

Carla Low, who runs DKW Fashions on Fore Hill, said: “We have had a prominent smell of urine in our store room for the last two years. Anglian Water has been out on a number of occasions but nobody has ever come back to us.

“I think that it has something to do with all the new houses that have been built in the area, I believe they have all been put on the same drains as us and the system can’t cope. I think someone needs to make it a priority and to make sure that they tell us what they are going to do.”

Mrs Low’s sentiments were echoed by David Lilley, who owns a shop and a flat along Fore Hill and recently had to claim �150,000 from his insurance company after sewage flooded one of his properties. “Our home was overrun with sewage and we had to move out and there are lots of us who have had similar problems, he said.

“I have no idea where the sewage is coming from but it can be very unpleasant. It has certainly been a problem since I moved in here three years ago.”

The traders also said that they had had the Environment Agency out to inspect the system.

A spokesman for Anglian Water said: “We have carried out �100,000-worth of improvements in the Fore Hill area over the course of the last year.

“We have drained and re-laid 130 metres of sewer along Fore Hill, but if residents are concerned that there continues to be a problem we will send someone out to check.”