WORKMEN driving a new enlarged sewer through Millend, between Newland and Coleford, are ripping up pasture and subsoil which will take years to recover, say affected landowners.

And the angry farmers say attempts to negotiate realistic compensation with Welsh Water officials are proving difficult.

Core to much of the problem is that the job was tackled on too narrow a strip, they say. This was presumably to avoid excessive compensation but instead created impossible working conditions complicated by the fact that new pipelines have to go under two spring-fed streams.

"To say it is a diabolical mess is something of an understatement," said Mrs Linda Shaw, who has 28 acres of land farmed with her husband John which is crossed by the waterlogged excavation.

"They have run into problem after problem. There's water everywhere. It would be impossible to put everything back – it will never be the same again."

Mr Shaw said the job should have been tackled in the June-September period when it was dryer and watercourses were not funnelling water into the valley.

He was not against the new sewer which would bring undoubted benefits to the area, including a cleaner stream running through his property.

"It is in my interests to help them get the job finished," he said. "I think the problem stems from the originators of the project setting the contractors unrealistic conditions.

"I have Bruton Knowles representing my interests as far as compensation goes. But amounts are very small under the new Water Act – really, it would have been better if they had taken more land for the project in the first place."

Their view is backed by Mrs Margaret Duberley, of Ruardean, who also owns land in the area.

"There is subsoil and everything being ripped up," she said.

"We have been trying to find out about compensation but restoring the land looks impossible."

The new sewer is being constructed for Welsh Water but involves moving a Severn Trent water main which has added to problems by being fractured several times, cutting off local water supplies.

The actual work on the site has been contracted to Tilbury Douglas. A spokesman for Hyder, the Welsh Water parent company, stated: "While the work is ongoing our contractors are making every effort to limit the impact on the land involved. Tilbury Douglas have, under Welsh water's instructions, liaised with landowners before, during and after the pipe laying which commenced in October.

"In November during the work a two-inch water main was damaged and Severn Trent Water were on site to repair, and supplied local customers with a temporary water supply. There were some additional occasions when the main burst again, and at present Severn Trent are re-routing the pipe work away from the area.

"We are aware that over the Christmas period there was localised flooding following a period of heavy rain, with some inevitable impact on the land.

"While we are aware that work of this nature will have some immediate effect on the land, every effort will be made to restore it to its former condition."

The spokesman added that compensation was automatically paid to landowners for loss of income during work of this kind.