Residents of an unfinished private housing estate in Kiltimagh have been informed by the ESB that supply to the estate’s pumping station will be terminated at the end of this month as the developer is not prepared to pay the bill.

The implication for the residents of the 50- house Rathcluain estate is that within days of the pumping house being shut down their homes will back up with sewerage.

The matter was raised at yesterday’s Swinford local area meeting of Mayo county Council where councillors urged Mayo county council to intervene in a situation that they said could have serious health implications.

Speaking to Midwest News today Sinn Fein councillor Gerry Murray said the local authority must intervene in this situation and he did not accept council management’s argument that it could not set a precedent.

He said both local authorities and the state itself will  have to agree a way to assist homeowners in unfinished estates where the security bonds have expired on the developments.

He also urged the government to lift the embargo on recruitment to the public service as he said additional enforcement officers are needed to clean up the mess left by some builders during the celtic tiger building boom.