FLOOD-HIT residents in Wickham are demanding action over sewage that is repeatedly forcing them from their historic homes.

The flat-dwellers of Riverside Mews claim the sewage is a health hazard to children who visit their Grade II-listed homes.

About 20 residents were evacuated from their homes when river floodwater pushed water through the sewers, affecting 11 apartments with up to one foot of polluted water on the ground floor.

Homeowners living in temporary rented accommodation expect to be there for at least six months.

Southern Water has cleared the debris, including human waste, after water receded from the yard at the converted former Wickham Brewery, next to the River Meon. The 200-year-old building is regularly visited by school groups for history studies.

Retired GP Professor Barney Bass, 73, who was flooded out of the mews with his wife, Jennifer, said: "I'm obviously upset at being forced out of my home by something that's avoidable, but of most concern is the health hazard of sewage lying in large ponds in our yard. Children come here from schools to look round because it's part of Wickham's history.

"If a child gets splashed by the water or picks up something contaminated after the water's gone then we could have a serious problem with tetanus, hepatitis B or typhoid."

Terry Eldrid, of the mews management committee, said he was unhappy at the response of Southern Water. An insurance broker is handling a £100,000 claim for the consequences of the flooding.

The company told the residents nothing could be done without huge investment and it did not have the money. Spokesman Geoff Loader told The Echo: "We understand what hardships the people of the mews at Wickham are going through. But it is partly the shortcomings of the drainage system backing up into the sewerage system. The flooding problem is as bad as anyone in the area can remember.''