A PENSIONER is furious a drain which spills effluence onto a busy pavement after heavy rainfall has not been fixed eight months after he first raised the issue.

Brian Martin, 75, decided to take action when he noticed the drain near his New Barnet home spilling waste onto the cut through after heavy rainfall last August.

He initially called Thames Water to alert them to the issue and ask them to clear away the remnants of the overflow which were on the pavement between The Hook and Longmore Avenue.

But after a camera probe was sent down the drain he was told engineers could not see any problems.

Despite this the drain cover continued to overflow at regular intervals, leading to half a dozen calls to Thames Water and Barnet Council.

The retired sign print manager told the Times Series: “This isn’t something that affects me directly, but it does affect hundreds if people who use the cut every single day.

“It’s so frustrating as it looks like there’s raw sewage coming out of the drain, so it’s a public health hazard but I keep getting told there’s nothing wrong. All I want is a straight answer.

“They’re always very polite on the phone but I never get anywhere. The amount of stuff that comes out of it is disgusting and could be really dangerous.”

A statement from Thames Water said they are “aware” of the flooding and are “very sorry for the mess that is caused when this happens”.

It added: " We have been out to the drain a number of times recently and cleared it out again three days ago.

“The cause of the blockages appears to be tree roots that have burrowed their way into the pipe so we are now looking into a more long term preventative solution."