SALCOMBE'S infrastructure has been straining with recent heavy rain, as flooding and overspilling sewage hit parts of Fore Street, Island Street, Sandhills Road and North Sands.

Jim Heaven, who lives on Sandhills Road said: ‘I noticed the drains were blocked last week, with standing water flowing down the road. It wasn’t a problem until the heavy rain last Friday. This caused sewage to flow up through the drains, and poo and tampons spilling onto the street. I reported this to South West Water, and to be fair to them, the sub-contractor they sent out responded quickly, clearing the road of sewage and unblocking the drains.

Mr Heaven continued: ‘It’s confusing because the grey water drain is the responsibility of South Hams Council, while the sewage system is maintained by South West Water.’

Dennis Hobday, from Salcombe Sea School and Boat Crew on Island Street, said: ‘If we hadn’t been there, the water would have gone right through the shop.

‘It came from the top of town, down Gould Road, and because we’re the last point along Island Street it accumulated outside.

‘It’s because we’ve lost our street cleaner, the drains were full of rubbish and leaves. But we got a pole and cleared the drain ourselves.

‘The drains aren’t being cleaned any more, it’s particularly bad on Fore Street and North Sands, with sewage pouring out of the drains.

Mr Hobday continued: ‘It’s just going to happen again and again every time we get heavy rain. We’ve had this before, but because our street cleaner Chad looked after the town, and kept the drain clear. We’ve never flooded before. This town is turning into a s**t heap.’

A spokesperson for South Hams Council said: ‘Keeping the gullys clear is the responsibility of Devon County Council. South Hams District Council hit squads are responsible for street cleaning and litter. We are not aware of any build-up of litter anywhere in Salcombe at the weekend that would have made the flash floods worse.’

South Hams Council said that they would be reviewing their new road sweeping system for Salcombe in October, although couldn’t give an exact date.

Next week, several residents plan to present the town’s petition calling for South Hams Council to reinstate the town’s manual road sweeper.

In addition, pictures have appeared on social media of Devon Highway’s poorly resurfaced roads in the town. And some in the town have linked the floods to drains being blocked with tarmac and grit being poured into them.

Mr Heaven explained how badly organised the work was on Sandhills Road: ‘Devon Highways put up signs announcing the works, but failed to show up to start the work on two different occasions.

‘We had a date to move our cars on signs, no one turned up. They then wrote a new date on the road, no one turned up. Eventually they turned up unannounced on shutting down the road and asking us to move our cars - on my wedding day! We worked around it, but it was another stress we didn’t need.’

Mr Heaven added: ‘The finished job was appalling, like a gravel track! And with tarmac being poured down the drains, it’s no wonder the drains are blocked.’

A Devon County Council spokesman said: ‘We are currently clearing gullies in Salcombe, which should be completed in the next couple of weeks. We will look into the report of drains being covered by surface material.’

South West Water have been approached for a comment.