Emergency tankers were taking sewage away from a Norwich housing estate last night after its pumping station broke down, polluting the River Tud.

The Environment Agency was called to the pumping station by the Queen's Hills estate in Costessey yesterday morning, to a report of raw sewage leaking from a manhole on Sir Alfred Munnings Road.

They discovered one of the pumps was broken, and unable to cope with the flow of water, trucks were called in to take the sewage away.

As reported in the Evening News on Thursday complaints are being made about raw sewage flowing from the faulty pumping station and manholes into the river, three years after assurances were given that it was safe.

The Evening News understands that tests carried out by the Environment Agency in the river yesterday confirmed sewage was present.

It is thought that one of the pumps in the station had come off its rails.

A forklift truck was used to lift the broken pump out, while tankers took the sewage to a nearby manhole in Alex Moorhouse Way.

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said: 'We were called to a pollution incident yesterday morning which we are investigating.'

The agency added that the problem of the faulty pumping station was difficult to solve, because of the housing estate's developer, Cofton, going into administration.

•Do you have a story about Costessey for the Evening News? Contact reporter Tom Bristow on 01603772313.