SEWERS near a Wordsley school are set to have their capacity increased as part of a half a million pound project by Severn Trent.

The company will install bigger sewers under the area surrounding Bells Lane making sure Ashwood Park Primary School and local residents are not affected by sewer flooding like they have seen in the past.

In June 2014, the school’s playground was left littered with raw sewage, including sanitary items and toilet paper, after heavy rainfall clogged storm drains and caused them to overflow.

The work, which is scheduled to start at the end of March, will increase the sewer’s capacity by 350,000 litres and engineers leading the project are now inviting local people to find out more about the scheme.

Seng Cheah, from Severn Trent, said: “We’re making a big investment in the area but it’ll be worth every penny if it stops the flooding issues that local people have been experienced in the past.

“Sewer flooding is the last thing anyone wants to deal with and that’s why we’ve taken the decision to upgrade our network for the future.

“But before we begin work, we want to speak to local people about our plans and to invite them to join us at our drop-in session.”

The session will take place at Ashwood Park Primary School between 4pm and 6.30pm on Thursday, March 16, where anyone interested in the project can find out more and raise any concerns they might have.

Seng added: “Our contractors from Amey will begin work on Monday, March 27, and the project should be completed by the end of the year.

“We’re working hard to minimise disruption to the local community while we work but we’ll need some road closures to make sure our engineers can work safely.

“We’ll make sure fully signposted diversions are in place and will allow access to homes and businesses.

“Hopefully everyone will realise that the huge benefits of the project will be worth the minor disruption.”