On Mon, 09 Jan 2006 21:08:32 GMT, a particular chimpanzee named ChrisJ
randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Am I right in assuming that given what I have described in the last
paragraph the blockage is likely to be down-stream of the inspection
pit? If so, who is responsible, me or the council? (1970's house by
the way).

Hasn't been 'the Council' for many a year. If the blockage is in the
public sewer, it's the responsibility of your sewerage company
(usually, but not always, your water company). If it's in your drain
serving just your property, it's entirely your responsibility. This
is not necessarily up to your boundary. The tricky bit comes if it's
a private sewer; draining more than one property, but not adopted.
Theoretically, if the blockage is in the private sewer, you should
recoup the costs from all those 'upstream' of the blockage. Good
luck.
--
Hugo Nebula
"If no-one on the internet wants a piece of this,
just how far from the pack have you strayed?"