RESIDENTS in Winklebury were fuming after raw sewage burst out of a pipe and spilled into a popular park.

The sewage streamed down Basingstoke's Green Way into West Ham Park, gathering in ditches and at a children's play area, where some had collected around a slide.

Jason Oram, of West Ham Close, was walking his border collie Tessa with his nine-year-old daughter Jodie when he saw the sewage.

He said: "It was disgusting. Children are very inquisitive and could quite easily put their fingers in it.

"There was no way I was going to let my daughter play in the park.

"I came straight home and washed the dog. I think someone should have warned us about it."

At the time some parents were unaware it was sewage, and many people were still walking their dogs in the park.

Teenagers Shane Reeves, Anthony Haviland and Liam Cummins were in the park when they saw the mess.

Shane said: "It's disgraceful. You can smell it from across the road."

Winklebury resident Katie Weston said: "It's all around the children's play area. Who knows what they might catch from it."

A spokesman for Thames Water, which owns the pipe, said the incident was caused by a paving slab which had been wedged in the sewer, possibly by vandals.

The blockage was cleared and tankers arrived on Friday to remove the sewage, which had spilled out of a manhole in Ludlow Close.

The spokesman said: "We are sorry this happened but we clearly cannot prevent people from putting things in the sewer."

Sewage was found running from a manhole down an alleyway off Vyne Road, Basingstoke, yesterday morning.

Thames Water said it believed the pipes in that area to be owned by Basingstoke council.

The Gazette was yesterday unable to contact anyone from the council.