SOUTHERN Water bosses were on Thursday (Aug 14) hoping that repairs to a sewer which has collapsed 20 feet below the surface at Barton-on-Sea will be completed by the end of the week.

Problems arose last week when residents of the Beach Avenue and Seaward Avenue area noticed toilets were not flushing properly and shower water was not draining as quickly as it should.

Southern Water head of communications Geoff Loader explained that the first time-consuming problem was to find the exact location of the broken pipe.

He said: "When it is 20 feet below the surface, you don't just dig around. You have to be sure exactly where it is, so we put a closed-circuit television camera down.

"We have established the exact position of the problem and we are now working on the repairs, which should be completed by the end of the week."

The work involves replacing six metres of broken pipe and while it is in progress, a temporary by-pass, which pumps the water past the fault, has been set up. Engineers have had problems with that bypass at times, Mr Loader said, because of the amount of rubbish which has been put into the sewage system and which has been causing occasional blockages.

He explained: "What we think has happened is that the ground has been shifting in the dry weather and has put pressure on the sewer, causing it to break."

He said the exact number of homes affected had not been confirmed.