A DISABLED householder claims Bury Council bosses are using his property to help pinpoint a drainage blockage in his street.

Mr Abdul Karim is angry a closed circuit television camera has been fitted to a water inspection chamber in the basement of his private house.

And he claims that during the last 18 months, he has been forced to repeatedly mop up flooding and silt from the chamber.

Mr Karim, 61, who is registered disabled, says the chamber was put in by the local authority despite his objections.

The trouble started when a pipe running underneath the basement of his house in Walmersley Road, Bury, fractured.

"I wanted the council to refit the pipe," he said. "Instead, they put in this water inspection chamber and told me I would be in trouble if I tried to repair the pipe.

"About two or three times a week, the chamber becomes full with water and silt. I have to get down on my knees and empty it all out."

On several occasions, local authority staff have cleared away the water using a high pressure hose.

And one evening, council workmen and the fire brigade arrived at his house and demanded entry to try to locate the source of a drainage blockage.

"I don't understand why the council had to put in a chamber in my house, and not in the street," said Mr Karim. "It's left to me to clear up any mess or flooding and the water itself is very smelly.

"This is my private property, yet I have been told the chamber must stay. But I want the original pipe repaired which will mean the water will pass under my cellar and go elsewhere."

To make matters worse, he says, council workmen turned up at his house this week to fit a closed circuit television camera inside the chamber.

"Although I allowed them to do that, I'm still very annoyed," he explained. "What happens if the camera doesn't locate the problem and it's left here for the next two or three years?"

Mr Abdul Salaam, Bury Council group engineer, drainage maintenance, said the local authority was called into the house when the cellar became flooded.

"We did some work on it and we put in the chamber," he said. "Later, we wrote to Mr Karim and told him we were going to put in the closed circuit television camera.

"That should tell us if there is a break anywhere and where the silt is coming from."

He added: "When we put in the chamber, it solved the problem for a time. But the recent heavy rainful has started it again.

"We told Mr Karim that if there was any trouble, we'd take out the silt for him and also help him with the flooding."

However, Mr Salaam is hopeful the camera will pinpoint any blockage and ultimately solve the whole problem.

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