CALDICOT residents were left cleaning up flood water and raw sewage after a downpour, just months after a £1.2million sewage system was installed.

Residents of Castle Lea and Chepstow Road were faced with an emergency clean-up on Friday after heavy rain caused water and sewage to leak from manhole covers.

Castle Lea residents say the problems have plagued them for around 40 years, but they thought progress was being made when Welsh Water began installing a new £1.2 million sewerage system last November.

Caldicot Cllr John Marshall said the manhole covers on Chepstow Road and near Jolyon's Court were pushed up by water and 'raw effluent' and he believes extra houses planned will only make things worse.

Abi Watts, who runs Rosies Florist, said: "We came back and the water had come inside so we were trying to brush it out and the storage area was completely flooded. We had all this hardship with the roadworks and the problem still hasn't been sorted out."

Robert Vaughan, 63, said it was the first time it had rained heavily since the works, and people were disappointed to see the build up of water.

He said: "Most of us blame it on the extra development round here and they want to build more houses. It may just be a few teething problems, but they had to wash the road on Saturday because of the sewage and we are concerned this will happen again."

A Welsh Water spokesman said investigations into the problem were ongoing.