Neighbour blocking pipes and drain with food

[Barbiegirlinblackandwhite]

NDN drain pipes come into our property to the shared drain. They have a habit of letting food go down the drain and it builds up, the smell is awful. They seem to constantly be washing up and using the dishwasher so even if I attempt to clear up what I can I end up getting it on my hands when the drain empties again. It’s getting to the point where going into our garden is avoided as the smell makes us gag.
NDN doesn’t care, they can’t see or smell it so they aren’t going to stop. That’s what drains are for according to them, with no respect for the fact it affects our garden use.
Im planning to report it and hope something can be done via the council/environmental health but I won’t hold my breath.
Is there anything I can do in the meantime? I’d love to be able to attach something so it drains back into their garden but no doubt I’ll get in trouble for that more than they will for blocking our drain with food!
Should I stick an apple up the pipe so their house backs up and floods? (Only half joking)
any advice would be appreciated.

That sounds grim. At what point are you clearing it with your hands - where it enters the ground? Is it an old property so that Grey water doesn’t go straight into a sewer pipe?

If it’s a drain where there a shared responsibility to have it unblocked you could threaten them with having to get somebody out to pump out all of the food waste and slapping them with half the cost of it.

I’d be careful about calling out environmental health in case you end up with the situation where the current drain set up requires you to spend money to ensure proper drainage. Or under current standards for example the wrong sort of waste is going down it and the water company need you to take action.

As a general rule I would definitely speak to the water company in preference to environmental health

Put mesh over the base of the pipe so it will just sit there block the pipe and back up but let water pass through

thinking about it a pair of tights over the end of the pipe probably do it all the shit they throw down the sink will sit in there pipe

Can't you get someone to split the drains somehow so they're no longer shared ?

What kind of drains do you have? It should be going underground so you don’t see all the food etc?

Agreed! What sort of drainage situation have you got going on?! It sounds Dickensian!!

Are you talking about sewers? If you are and they are shared, then they may be the responsibility of the local water and sewerage company.

Ultimately if they block the waste system with fat and food then their toilets will also block up.

What @MrsMoastyToasty said! If it’s affecting a shared drain (sounds like it’s a lateral sewer - the one that connects properties to the main sewers in the street) then it’s owned by the water company and they think rather badly of people who block drains!! Also, if you weren’t clearing it out it would probably back up into your property too.