A STORM has blown up over claims that Southern Water is to dump raw sewage in the River Itchen at Eastleigh.

It follows a meeting last night at which Eastleigh councillors discussed flooding problems at the town's Chickenhall Sewage Works.

Councillor Chris Thomas said three large tanks used to hold surplus sewage had overflowed, causing flooding on the site on at least two occasions last year.

To resolve this Cllr Thomas claims that Southern Water has been pumping the flood sewage into nearby fields.

But he says: "They intend to construct a pipe and discharge raw sewage that has only been screened direct into the River Itchen at Bishopstoke, directly upriver from an environmentally sensitive area."

Eastleigh mayor Councillor Glynn Davies-Dear, who is county councillor for the area, said: "I cannot believe they can be as fantastically irresponsible as to propose putting untreated sewage into one of our most important rivers."

Chairman of Eastleigh Council's Local Area Committee Councillor Steve Sollitt said: "Southern Water needs to look at alternative ways to deal with this issue."

Today a Southern Water spokesman said: "In extreme wet weather conditions, possibly once or twice a year depending on our climate and the flows, the waste will exceed the capacity of the storm tank. In these rare incidences extremely dilute storm water would pass through a screened overflow to the River Itchen.

"This is done with the consent of the environment Agency and to prevent flooding of the works and nearby homes and buildings. This is standard procedure to protect areas from flooding, and in addition Southern Water is looking at investing several million pounds in upgrading standards of treatment at the Chickenhall Works."

The spokesman said the proposed outfall, which would only be used in extreme conditions, was only an idea at an early stage. There would be public consultation.