Acomb residents whose property was engulfed by a torrent of raw sewage are right to be angry at the response by Yorkshire Water. Their lives have been made a misery. The utility company has offered an apology and a discount off their bill. This is better than nothing, but nowhere near good enough.

It is hard to imagine a more unpleasant household disaster than this. Residents watched helplessly as their gardens were overrun by filth. Fish were poisoned in their ponds.

Every garden affected was transformed from a peaceful summer oasis into a stinking cesspit. The smell hardly bears thinking about.

No surprise that residents soon started reporting they had headaches. Raw sewage is so serious a health hazard that residents were advised to seek a tetanus shot as a precaution.

The gardens were placed off limits in the middle of summer.

It was the failure of a Yorkshire Water pumping station to cope with a downpour which led to this chaos. The company's reluctance to go the extra mile to help has added to residents' woes.

No one is criticising the staff brought in to clear up the mess.

But bosses should have acted more promptly - it is claimed they took three hours to respond - and more generously.

Offering a 25 per cent rebate on the bill of those affected may be more than the company is statutorily obliged to do, but a 100 per cent rebate would seem fairer considering the level of distress involved. As the company announced pre-tax profits of more than £200 million in June, it can easily afford it.

Perhaps more importantly, Yorkshire Water must reassure the residents that it is taking steps to ensure this could never happen again.

Acomb families feel the company has left them with no option but to pursue satisfaction via the watchdog Ofwat. Yorkshire Water has worked hard to restore customer relations since they reached rock bottom in the mid-Nineties.

Clearly it still has lessons to learn.