HARLOW Council came to the rescue after residents of a new build estate in Northbrooks endured raw sewage running in the streets.

A resident contacted YH on Friday night, extremely concerned at the sight and smell of the sewage in their street.

Some residents including children already had underlying health concerns.

According to residents, they had contacted the housing provider, Sanctuary Housing, but had been told that no-one was available until after the Bank Holiday (i,e: Tuesday).

There was an added problem in that this was what is called an unadopted road and so there was uncertainty as to whether the council could help.

But this is where the Harlow Council portfolio holder for the environment, cllr Nicky Purse came in.

Councillor Purse looked at the situation and assessed that there was a risk of raw sewage going back into the water system. Therefore, this was an emergency.

Once she obtained approval, an environment team from Harlow Council went down on Friday night and sorted it.

A resident, who did not wish to be named, thanked cllr Purse and her team for their swift work.

The Sanctuary Housing press team did get back to YH to topic base and confirm the situation had been sorted.

We will follow up in due course to make sure that any long term issues have been addressed.