An elderly couple from Buckinghamshire said they were “heartbroken” by the immersion of their flower garden in sewage waste, an issue that has also impacted several of their neighbours.

Buckinghamshire Council has promised it is ‘urgently’ investigating the cause of a sewage leak along Church Road in Penn, High Wycombe, where several properties including Dell Cottage, the home of Patrick and Jane Frizoni, both 70, have been flooded with waste matter in the past 48 hours.

Patrick said the flooding, which has happened twice previously this year, was caused by a leaking soakaway and water storage tank in a nearby car park, which put pressure on sewage pipes and caused a sinkhole to appear in the couple’s garden on Sunday evening.

“We open our garden up every year for the Penn Gardens charity event – it’s one of the prettiest in the area – and this is just ruining it. There’s sewage floating around, a really bad smell and it’s now coming up close to getting in the house.

“It’s absolutely dire. It’s a disaster and it just keeps getting worse.”

Because the sewage pipes in question are owned by Thames Water and the tanker and soakaway are under the jurisdiction of Buckinghamshire Council, Patrick said the handing back-and-forth of responsibility between the two has at times made effective action feel like a hopeless cause.

A Lanes Group worker visiting the property yesterday (October 30) said the sewage water levels at some of the properties adjoining Jane and Patrick’s were even worse, with the garden immediately next door “completely flooded”.

However, the worker, whose company is partnered with Thames Water, added: “The build-up in their garden is what has been filtered through this garden’s fence. Once that soaks away, it won’t leave the sewage that it will here.”

READ MORE: 'It's a disaster': Elderly couple's garden FLOODS with sewage

Peter Martin, Buckinghamshire Council’s Deputy Cabinet Member for Transport said: “We are aware of this situation and understand how unpleasant this must be for the residents who are impacted.

“We have liaised directly with them over this issue and have provided emergency assistance with sandbags plus have deployed a gully cleansing machine to come to the site to ensure the highway drainage system is clear and cannot be contributing to the problem.

“We are urgently working with Thames Water to investigate the root cause of this issue and work up a long-term solution.”

A Thames Water spokesperson previously said: “We are sorry to residents in Church Road, Penn, who have experienced sewer flooding in their garden.

"Our teams have investigated and identified damage to one of our waste pipes caused a sinkhole nearby.

“Our engineers and customer representatives are currently at the property in question to carry out a clean-up of the area and begin mitigation to prevent the property from flooding.

“We are also working with partner organisations and authorities to determine responsibility of the sinkhole and steps which can be taken to resolve the problem.”