What will it take for the disgusting, stinking Grantham eyesore to be fixed?
Natalie Fahy Senior Editor
12:52, 07 May 2026Updated 14:53, 07 May 2026
Natalie Fahy by the leak in question on High Road, Manthorpe
Our roads are in a bit of a state at the moment, there’s no doubt about it. Many of you reading this will have suffered in some way, whether it’s a jolt at the wheel while driving, a burst tyre, or a bumpy bus ride.
I bet you’ve never been soaked in sewage, though, splashed from a loose manhole cover on the road.
That’s exactly what happened to me at the weekend. It’s hard to know exactly when stinking fluids started oozing from this part of the High Road, in Manthorpe, Grantham, which is somewhere I visit often and know well.
It’s certainly been going on for several months, with two reports on the Fix My Street website dating back to January. Lincolnshire County Council replied on January 26 to say: “Our highways team have issued this work out to one of their delivery gangs. We’ll let you know when the job is complete.”
One person who reported it wrote: “This drain isn’t coping with rainfall, you can’t walk past this without being soaked by passing cars, but also when the road dries up, it then smells foul to walk past it.”
Another added: “The drain is clearly blocked. Pedestrians get significantly soaked when a car passes at the same moment.”
We’ve reported it ourselves to both Lincolnshire County Council and Anglian Water, with each saying the other is responsible and ultimately, no action has been taken.
In the meantime, the road is still leaking, the manhole cover still clanging every time a car rides over it, and now I’ve fallen victim to the terrible eyesore myself.
Picture the scene, family walk, Bank Holiday Monday, all is well.
Then the next thing you know, a Land Rover drives over the loose manhole, and stinking sewage water splashes all over me, covering me from head to foot.
It was in my hair, up my nose and all over my clothes.
Thankfully – I think – no lasting damage has been done. I dread to think what could have happened if a child had been covered or someone with a weak immune system.
I don’t know the exact content of the liquid but let me tell you – it smelt so, so bad that you do not want to even try and imagine where it might have come from.
This particular road is a popular route out to Belton House or just simply for a stroll among the lovely fields nearby. I surely can’t have been the first person to be soaked, and I can see it’s been reported at least three times. So why has nothing been done?
Unfortunately, the question will have to remain unanswered.
Shaun Butcher, Head of Asset and Local Management at Lincolnshire County Council Highways said: “Officers have been to this site to assess the condition of the drain and as a result we have works planned for July.
“The crew will cleanse 31 drainage assets including surface water gullies, inlets, manholes and catchpits which will cover the High Road and Low Road areas. We will also jet all pipes and connections through to the main outfall.
“In addition, we will run a CCTV survey to see if there are any other blockages such as roots that are causing an issue. If we find any, we will cut them and make good on the drainage assets as necessary.”