A woman who had just been given the all clear after beating bowel cancer came home to find her house flooded with “raw sewage”.

Donna Ruder lives with her 16-year-old son Alex in Randalls Way, Stevenage, and had been enjoying a weekend away when the blockage happened.

The 45-year-old, who was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, received a call on the Sunday from Alex to say that there was a serious problem with the plumbing.

She rushed back home to find excrement flooding the kitchen she had treated herself to after beating the disease.

The team leader at The Health Centre on Stanmore Road said: “When I got home I saw my kitchen was covered in raw sewage. It was spewing up through the sink and backing up into the washing machine.

“The force was incredible, it was coming up through the sink’s U-bend and spraying everywhere.

“It ended up flooding the entire ground floor with about three inches of excrement.

“It didn’t just affect my kitchen, my living and dining rooms are wrecked and so are the stairs.

“The insurance company have been out and said that everything will have to be stripped back to the plaster and take months to fix.

“They advised me against living in the house because of health issues but we’ve got a dog and hotels won’t take him. Plus my son doesn’t want to leave.

“The water board said it was caused by people flushing toilet wipes, fat and food down the drains and that is could happen again so I just want to warn people against doing it because this could happen to them.”

In all, four houses were affected in the blockage.

A spokesman for Thames Water said the blockage has been fixed but if anyone on the street is still having problems they should contact them on 0800 9808800 or visit www.thameswater.co.uk.