REPRIEVE is on the horizon for people in Callow End with the promise of major sewerage works to relieve some of their flooding problems.

Severn Trent Water is to spend £600,000 on improvements to the foul sewers in the village, as well as making improvements to the sewage treatment works over the next 30 months.

In the meantime, the company has sealed manhole covers and installed non-return valves to prevent sewage from overloaded sewers flooding homes in Beauchamp Lane and Lower Ferry Lane.

The improvement plans were ann-ounced to about 20 residents by Ian Burtenshaw, Severn Trent's assistant manager for sewerage operations, at a meeting in Callow End convened by county and district councillor Tom Wells.

"I'm delighted that local pressure has persuaded Severn Trent to upgrade the foul sewers in the village, but I'm disappointed that this can't be done quicker and residents will be at the mercy of the elements for two or three more winters," said Coun Wells.

"Meanwhile, Worcestershire County Council has imminent plans to improve storm drainage in Lower Ferry Lane, where it's suspected that surface water is infiltrating the foul sewerage system."

Mr Burtenshaw said the scheme to improve the inlet to the sewage treatment works was already well developed and was going ahead in advance of the sewerage scheme. It was expected to be finished by March. 2003.

"Work has begun to design the £600,000 scheme to stop the sewers from flooding," he said.

"It's not just a case of banging a new pipe in. The sewerage system in Callow End drains a lot of other villages as well and we have to make sure the system we design is capable of solving the problems. We expect it to be completed in March, 2004."

Some parts of the sewers in Callow End were installed in the 1930s and others in the late 1960s.

They were now being overloaded on a regular basis because of the average household's greater use of water, together with more frequent and longer storms, he said.

"We have protected all the properties that get flooded internally by using non-return valves and we have sealed manhole covers wherever we can, but we can't stop the river from flooding. We have no control over that," said Mr Burtenshaw.