It was 7am on September 14, 2021, and David Benque had less than five minutes to wake up his partner and two kids to get them out of a flat that was rapidly filling with high-pressured sewage water.

David, 40, lived in a two-bedroom basement flat in Anerley Park, SE20.

He was on “personal terms” with his landlady who lived above him, he had never had any issues with the flat, and had certainly never been aware of any sewage issues – until that day.

It was early in the morning mid-September, when David says he heard a noise and smelt something strange coming from the courtyard outside his flat.

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He looked out of his window, and saw a stream of water “carrying the trash” that had been put in their outside bins.

A confused David opened the front door, and was met with what he described as “basically a water fall” on his door step.

His two kids, five and three, were fast asleep – and as the water rose rapidly, he had just five minutes to wake them up, dress them, grab some stuff, call the Fire Brigade, and get to safety.

David describes what happened next in a heart breaking recount of losing his home, £30,000 worth of belongings – and having to take his kids to buy new shoes bare foot because absolutely everything they owned had been engulfed by sewage water.

He told the News Shopper: “After five minutes, we were stuck in water waist-heigh.

This Is Local London: The damageThe damage

“The Fire Brigade came and had to help my partner out because the water was gushing so strong and at such a high pressure while she was carrying our three-year-old son.

“She was struggling to move against the water – but luckily we were able to get out because our front door opened inwards.

“Our neighbours, a couple, weren’t able to get out as easily because their door opened outwards so they couldn’t open it against the water force.

“By the time the Fire Brigade extracted them through the window, they were nearly chest-heigh in water.

“It was terrible – the smell especially was really bad.

“We were literally standing in the dejections of civilisation.”

This Is Local London: The damageThe damage

“Solids, liquids, faeces, white bits of fat, insects, flies and a rat with no hair” - David’s flat was no longer a loving home – but instead, destroyed by a sewer.

David’s “life-saving” landlady went to live elsewhere for a few weeks, and David and his family moved into her home.

They paid her their rent, and it meant the kids could have “some sort of normality” after losing their home and everything inside.

The repair work outside lasted more than five months according to David, – in what he described as a “major building site”.

This Is Local London: Photo dated January 23 of repair works by Thames Water Photo dated January 23 of repair works by Thames Water

A manhole was dug where the explosion had happened, and David said it turned out that the sewage pipe that burst was out on the road, and not actually even right outside their flat.

He explained: “Friends said we could move in with them but we couldn’t move too far away because our daughter is in school and we wanted to try keep things as normal as possible for her.

“Our kids had lost everything and everything in their home had been completely turned upside down.

“But, we couldn’t at our landlady’s home forever, and gradually after about six weeks we had to look for somewhere else to live, and gradually start to re-buy everything we’d lost.

“I’ll always remember the day after the flood happened when we went to the shops to get new shoes for the children – they didn’t have any shoes on their feet when we went to the shops.

“They had nothing, and it’s those strange moments where I really got a feel for having my life completely turned upside down.”

This Is Local London: DamageDamage

When David returned to the flat after the incident, he says there was no water left but instead just mud all over the ground.

He wore a mask, which he says didn’t even cover up the smell, and the flat was covered in insects and flies which were absolutely “proliferating”.

David did not have any contents insurance, but was adamant that this was Thames Water’s responsibility due to the “massive infrastructure failure” that had happened with the sewage pipe.

He submitted a claim to the water company, and after “endless back and forth”, he was told just before Christmas that they weren’t accepting any liability.

A spokesperson for Thames Water said that investigations show “no previous issues” with the sewer which would have contributed to the collapse.

This Is Local London: Damaged bedroomDamaged bedroom

They added that as a result, the company “was not negligent and is not legally liable for the damage”.

David explained: “We were told we weren’t going to get any compensation.

“It was just a normal morning, and their infrastructure had a massive failure.

“The workers on the site said it was in the top three worst things they’ve ever seen.

“But, the pressure was on us, and we had a flat filled with our destroyed belongings covered in sewage.

“When Thames Water came to offer to take the belongings away, they did so with a letter for us to sign in exchange which basically said we weren’t going to hold them responsible.

This Is Local London: David refused to sign the letter issued by Thames WaterDavid refused to sign the letter issued by Thames Water

“I didn’t sign, because I was holding them responsible, and instead we had to hurry and pay ourselves - £1,500 - for the removal of our destroyed life.

“By this time it was more than three months after the event, we didn’t want to block the renovation work on the flat which were tied up in our landlady’s insurance, and we had to pay the money ourselves to remove our stuff that the sewage had destroyed.”

David, who is now living in a different flat in South Norwood with his partner and two kids, has tried to contest Thames Water’s decision, but hasn’t got anywhere.

He says he was told by the company that if he wasn’t happy he should consider legal action – but after buying a whole new life, David says he can’t afford the legal fees.

He explained: “Strangely the law seems to be on their side.

“I’m going to meet our MP Ellie Reeves next week so hopefully she can help.

“We still deal with this and we are still dealing with the consequences six months later.

“We might have moved, but it’s still in our life.

“We’re still dealing with the trauma and the financial consequences.

“The extended process of being made to feel completely invisible and the silence of these people makes it worse.

“We never got a sorry, we never got anything, it’s just brutal really.

This Is Local London: DamageDamage

“We’ve counted more than £30,000 in belongings destroyed – and we didn’t even have stuff that was very valuable, but it all adds up.

“Our deposit was still with our landlady and we didn’t get that back – which is fair enough on her but it’s no fault of our own.

“What a way to be kicked when you’re down.”

David is still, nearly six months later, trying to hold Thames Water responsible for "flooding his life" and recently told his story on social media.

The full statement from a spokesperson for Thames Water said: “We understand how distressing sewer flooding is and we sympathise with anyone affected.

“In this case, the flooding was caused by a collapsed sewer which caused sewage to spill out in to nearby properties.

“Our engineers were quickly on the scene and carried out repairs as a matter of urgency.

“Investigations show there were no previous issues with the sewer which would have contributed to the collapse, and as such Thames Water was not negligent and is not legally liable for the damage caused.

“As with all sewer flooding, we offered to clean and sanitise affected properties, which includes removing belongings which are too damaged to be returned to the property.

“In order to do this, we ask our customers to sign a document acknowledging that we won’t be reimbursing them for the items removed.

“We encourage anyone affected by the devastating impact of sewer flooding to make a claim through their home insurance provider.”

A London Fire Brigade statement issued on September 14 said: “Four fire engines and around 25 firefighters were called to a flooding on Anerley Park in Crystal Palace.

“Water flooded the lower ground floors of three semi-detached houses converted into flats up to a depth of one metre.

“Firefighters rescued four adults and two children. There were no reports of any injuries.

“Anerley Park was closed in both directions as crews worked to make the scene safe.

“The Brigade was called at 0705 and the incident was over for firefighters by 0833.

“Fire crews from Beckenham, West Norwood and Woodside fire stations attended the scene.”

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