Problem with drainage

[Brightside]

Hi, i have a disused drain running under my house which is the source of a rat infestation. The drain is a separate, older system and not connected to the drains everyones loos flush into. Its full extent is unknown, but i've also had a Eurasian Mink infestation too which suggests it leads to water. It is classified as a 'shared drain' because it crosses a land boundary, and is therefore the responsibility of Yorkshire Water. They are coming out to visit the problem for the third time in the near future, all previous visits have resulted in them shedding responsibility on a technicality. I've spent months excavating the whole front of the house in order to expose the drains and to prove what is where, so that responsibility can be nailed down.

What i'd like to know is how strong is my legal position? It is a drain- fact. It crosses land boundaries- fact. Therefore it is a shared drain- fact. Shared drains are the responsibility of the Utility provider- fact. Rats are a public health issue- fact. In addition to this the current residential drainage system is laid over the top of the disused system, which means they had an opportunity to deal with it, but decided not to do so; i call this malpractice.

What i expect YW to say in their next visit is that because it is a disused system it somehow isn't their responsibility. In the event of this happening i will want to pay a private drainage contractor to sort the problem out and then take YW to court to recoup my losses. Compensation isn't on my agenda, just what i've spent fixing the problem. To fix the problem the drain needs a 1mtr section removing either side of the house and the network of old branches under the row of 4 terraced houses i live in needs filling with concrete leaving no voids. The only other option is to knock the house down and have it rebuilt on a concrete plinth. I understand this issue is mired in technical terms, but i've tried to simplify it as much as possible. Really i need to be clued up before they come, so...

1) How strong is my legal position?
2) What branch of law am i dealing with?
3) What legal process must i be prepared to follow?

Thanks.

[des8]

Your problem revolves round an abandoned sewer/drain, so it is not obviously YW responsibility.
I don't suppose you know when the system was replaced or by whom?

I don't know anything about your house or its previous ownership, but if it is pre 1900 for example, and was part of an estate it is possible that at sometime the estate upgraded your row of properties by applying to connect to the public sewer. if that sort of scenario applies (ie a private upgrade) then the liability for incorrectly blocking off the abandoned system would not lie with YW.*

Suggest you find out more about the abandonment before proceeding to court

[Brightside]

Your problem revolves round an abandoned sewer/drain, so it is not obviously YW responsibility.
I don't suppose you know when the system was replaced or by whom?

I don't know anything about your house or its previous ownership, but if it is pre 1900 for example, and was part of an estate it is possible that at sometime the estate upgraded your row of properties by applying to connect to the public sewer. if that sort of scenario applies (ie a private upgrade) then the liability for incorrectly blocking off the abandoned system would not lie with YW.

Suggest you find out more about the abandonment before proceeding to court

It's not so much abandoned as it is disused. It will have been installed to serve the domestic properties by a body in public ownership, such as the City Council, at some point, but nobody knows when. When utilities went into private ownership they bought the hardware and the responsibility for it; this is my understanding of the privatisation process. It runs into a watercourse somehow otherwise Mink wouldn't have ended up under my bath, so its mothballing will have been around the time that it became unacceptable to drain potentially foul water into a beck or river.

Any ideas who i can consult on precisely who is legally responsible for it? It's a guddun, as they say up north.