Blundering telecoms workers punctured a pipeline outside a grandfather-of-five’s home, sending sewage overflowing into the garden – and didn’t fix the problem for three months.

Steve Tragner was afraid to flush the toilet as his home was plagued by plumbing problems and a foul odour after Openreach replaced a telegraph pole outside his home.

Tanker trucks collected sewage from the property in Chestfield Road in Chestfield, near Whitstable, up to twice a day, but without a working pipeline to constantly carry away wastewater, the 72-year-old’s ability to use running water was severely restricted.

“It was b****y annoying,” Mr Tragner told KentOnline.

“At nighttime we couldn’t even use the toilets or take a shower because I was afraid it would overflow into the garden again.

“And throughout the house, we had a disgusting odour of sewage because it was not going away.

“With three children living here at the moment, it really has not been easy to live with.

“When they came to pump it out each day, I would be rushing around having a shower, flushing the toilets, putting on the washing machines.”

The retired air-conditioning engineer says he first noticed something was wrong a couple of weeks after the telegraph pole was replaced on August 1.

It was about 9pm when he saw his front driveway was full of water coming up from a manhole.

“We called Southern Water, and subcontractors came down the next day with cameras and confirmed that the problem was being caused by a rupture in the sewage pipeline,” Mr Tragner said.

“We’d been trying to get in contact with people to rectify this, but we just went around in circles for months.

“Then this past Tuesday, crews of subcontractors showed up unannounced, removed the pole and fitted the pipeline with a connector sleeve.”

Mr Tragner says he is glad to have plumbing back to normal in his house but is still fuming that it took Openreach so long to sort the problem.

He added: “It’s finished now and that’s a relief, but what are the consequences of the sewage potentially seeping under the house, under the garden? Only time will tell.”

An Openreach spokesperson said: “We’re sorry that Steve and his family have had this unpleasant experience. Our partners have now replaced the problematic pole and we’re working with Southern Water to finalise repairs to the pipe as quickly and as safely as possible”.

Southern Water was contacted for comment.