People living in London Colney are kicking up a stink amid fears a sea of sewage will gurgle up from the drains and swamp their streets and homes.

Thames Water has confirmed there are blockages in the sewer system around London Colney High Street, which affected houses in Alexander Road and Five Acres last year.

But Richard Housden, who lives in Five Acres, said he saw sewerage coming out of a manhole outside Alexander Hall last week and fears increased rainfall could flood houses in the area if the sewers are not thoroughly cleaned.

He said: "Last Sunday, after we had been away for the weekend, we went to use the bathroom and flushed the toilet, there was a gurgling sound which indicated the system was blocked.

"I have phoned Thames Water every day, sometimes twice a day, but no one seems to be fixing it. The big fear is, we are going to have houses under water again at the first sight of rain.

"I feel confident if we have a downpour, we will be flooded again.

"I am totally disgusted and we feel let down by them and their service.

"I had a call at 2am on Saturday morning to say they think they had fixed it. This has happened a number of times.

The 68-year-old added the gurgling had now stopped, but hopes the water company will find a long term solution to the problem to reduce the risk of flooding.

A representative for Thames Water said the blockage "looks more complex" than engineers first thought and CCTV cameras will be installed to "understand the extent of the problem".

The represenative said: "We're sorry some customers are unhappy with our work clearing blockages in the area. We will be carrying out further investigations using CCTV to understand the extent of the problem and we will make sure the sewer is cleaned thoroughly.

"Some of the recent blockages have been caused when left-over cooking fat is poured down the sink and wet wipes are flushed down the toilet, so please remember to Bin it, Don't Block it to help your neighbours avoid getting blocked pipes in the future."

The 68-year-old added: "The sewers in the village are very old. Obviously this sewer is used by a large number of houses, so it needs maintaining, if not upgrading to a better quality, but in the mean time it needs unblocking."

London Colney district councillor Jacob Quagliozzi said: "I was on site myself late Friday night speaking to Thames Water on the phone, we had a frank exchange and I understand the immediate problem has now been resolved. "However residents on High Street, Alexander Road and Five Acres are having to put up with what is and intolerable situation and fast becoming a persistent problem and this is not acceptable. I have written to Thames Water asking for a meeting to examine what can be done to deal with the underlying issues here."

Thames Water has confirmed there will be a "good clean through" when they discover what the major blockage is.