People living in constant fear of being flooded are appealing to fellow home-owners to watch what they flush down the toilet.

Back in June, we reported how a number of residents in Castlemere Avenue, Queenborough, had water and sewage flood their gardens after heavy downpours.

The same thing happened in June 2010 when Carole and Eric Tress were among the worst affected with their house being flooded by the waste.

They had further problems earlier this year when sewage entered their conservatory.

Mr Tress said he has now been informed by Southern Water that it was caused by heavy rain and what is known in the industry as “rag” – non-biodegradable waste which has been flushed, such as sanitary products, condoms and wipes.

This blocks pumps and causes flooding and was also a contributing factor to the floods in 2010.

Mr Tress, 67, said: “As far as I’m concerned it’s a lack of maintenance.

“[Southern Water] must have a schedule of maintenance that deals with this sort of thing, knowing it happens.

“We live in fear at the moment that every time it rains hard we will get flooded with raw sewage.

“My plea is – would the residents of Sheppey kindly refrain from placing this sort of thing down their toilets and into the waste water system because Southern Water is unable to cope with them at the pumping station and this causes my house to be flooded.”

A spokesman for Southern Water said improvements to the station are currently being planned to help reduce the risk.

Larger pumps will be installed later this year to help the station cope during periods of heavy rainfall which can flush large amounts of non-biodegradable debris through the sewer system.

“Southern Water’s sewers and pumping stations are designed to deal with human waste and water as well as toilet paper which decomposes naturally,” the spokesman said.

“To help reduce the risk of blockages, we ask customers to dispose of non-biodegradable items in the bin and not down the loo. Blockages can also be caused by a build up of cooking fat, oil and grease which solidifies as it cools and should be put in the bin.”