CIVIC chiefs are piling the pressure on Southern Water after raw sewage was strewn across Winchester High Street.

The utility company has been accused of putting profit over people as heavy downpours caused yet another overflow on Monday - months after significant investment in the network was promised.

Shoppers were left 'retching' after having to sidestep human waste near the Buttercross as the rainfall began.

One woman described the "dreadful" smell as the drains bubbled up, spewing the contaminated water onto the street.

Hampshire County Councillor and Liberal Democrat member for Winchester Eastgate, Dominic Hiscock, previously raised the recurring issue at a full council meeting in November.

READ MORE: Human waste spills out onto Winchester High Street as drains overflow

He has since said he is yet to see "any evidence" of improvement work having taken place.

"It is getting silly now," he said. "Every time it rains hard we are getting sewage running down our streets. It's nonsense, it shouldn't be happening.

"Once a water company starts putting shareholders' profits over the customers' needs then that company hasn't got much of a life left. I think that seems to be about where we are at. There appears to be an inability to stop pumping sewage into our rivers and the Solent, yet they can still afford to pay huge dividends out to shareholders."

Cllr Hiscock said he has discussed ways with Winchester City Council leader, Martin Tod, in which they could break the flow of rainwater running down from Romsey Road and onto the High Street in a bid to relieve the pressure from the problem drains.

However, he has said the council can only do so much to fix the problem.

"It's their job (Southern Water), nobody else has that responsibility to stop the sewage from flowing down the river," he said.

"All the stuff that comes out of the drains and onto the High Street ends up down the bottom floating through the Weirs. It is unacceptable.

SEE ALSO: Winchester Beacon set for 'urgent' talks with council bosses over funding cuts

"These downpours aren't going to go away, that's climate change. It isn't going to get any better so they're going to have to do something about it."

A city council-led clean-up operation was swiftly put in place to deal with the latest incident, with crews seen picking up some of the debris and pouring chemicals onto the affected areas. A Southern Water engineer was sent out to "assess" the situation, but the authority has since said it is pushing the company for further action.

A spokesperson said: “Our environmental health team responded quickly to the overflowing Southern Water foul sewer and ensured the area was made safe and cleaned up without delay. We are investigating the problem and pressing Southern Water for urgent action.”

Southern Water were contacted for comment on Monday but have yet to respond.

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