FAMILIES were forced out of their Basingstoke homes after a flood of sewage exploded into their properties, causing damage running into thousands of pounds.

Shocked residents in an Oakridge road were faced with a sea of filth and a major clean-up operation when their homes were flooded on Wednesday morning. The nightmare happened after torrential rain caused blocked sewers to overflow.

Carpets, refrigerators, freezers and kitchen units were ruined after the sewage poured from toilets and manholes and covered the ground floor of five terraced homes in Wateridge Road.

Specialist teams had to be drafted in to disinfect the homes and carefully dispose of the debris to avoid any possible infection from hepatitis and Weills disease.

For Linda Azimi, a Clarins counter manager at Allders in Basingstoke, Wednesday morning should have been a time for doing housework.

She said: "I was just talking with my daughter when there was a 'whoosh' like a river and we were both literally standing in two-inch thick sewage."

Mrs Azimi was distraught with the scale of the damage to her belongings.

Among the items spoiled was a treasured £1,000 Persian rug and her granddaughter's toys.

She said: "Everything has to come out of the lounge.

"The sewage has got under the carpets and my dining room is damaged. All our fridge and freezer food has had to go because it has been contaminated."

Mrs Azimi's insurance company has booked the family-of-four into a hotel for seven days while the house is cleared.

Disabled 61-year-old Catherine Paynter said her nightmare started at about 9.30am on Wednesday.

She said: "I was coming downstairs when all of a sudden I saw sewage coming out of the toilet.

"I shouted out to my husband John - 'it's flooding, it's flooding'.

"I couldn't believe it. It was disgusting."

The couple had to wait until the early evening when they were told by their insurance company they would be staying in a hotel for the night.

Thames Water spokesman Chris Shipway said the sewage explosion had happened because the sewer was blocked by fat, grease and rags.

He said the company sent contractors to Wateridge Road on Wednesday after receiving a call that there was a sewer blockage. It was not until the contractors arrived at 11.15am that they discovered that there was a serious flood. The contractors unblocked the sewer and offered to clean up the flood in the affected houses.

He said: "The workers had to unblock the sewer a second time using a high pressure jet hose to make sure it was completely cleared."

Although not blaming the householders affected by the flood, Mr Shipley said: "The problem was caused by material that should be thrown in the bin and not flushed into the sewer network.

"The system was not designed to handle things like grease and rags. I would advise people to wait for things like grease to congeal first and then dispose of it in the bin."