Residents and motorists were forced to endure an unbearable stench yesterday after roadworks on the Lija roundabout accidentally led a sewage flood along Valley Road.

“It’s absolutely disgusting! The smell is so nauseating that I had to leave the house because I was going to be physically sick,” said Mary Micallef, 57, as she tiptoed across the excrement-splattered pavement.

The untreated sewage formed a considerable stream that filtered through several side roads until a large chunk of Balzan area was soiled.

Shop owners and residents told Times of Malta the outflow started just after 2pm and only died down around 4pm when Transport Malta workers managed to close off the leak.

I had to leave the house because I was going to be physically sick

Preliminary inquiries yesterday indicated that the leak had occurred when the road workers, working on the National Flood Relief Project, connected new drains to the existing ones. Workers on site said this opened up a backlog of sewage that may have been stagnating in the closed-off pipe for several months.

The stream saw the front facades of shops and houses sprayed in waste and used toilet paper. The mess forced many shops to close for the day while other residents said they had to leave their homes.

Transport Malta workers could be seen frantically hosing down the street.

“They need to disinfect this mess. Just spraying some water at it isn’t enough. This could make people very sick,” Manuel Buhagiar, a 45-year-old welder said, as he shut his workshop for the day.

Balzan mayor John Zammit Montebello said his main concern was that the installation of further pipes might see a repetition of this incident.