Calls for council to clear blocked drains on Berkhamsted roads before freezing temperatures make roads dangerous

A man from Berkhamsted has called on the council to clear the blocked drains in the town before the weather turns colder and the roads become dangerous.

The man, who has lived in Montague Road for 30 years, says the drains have been like this since he moved to Berkhamsted, but it has got worse and he has described it as an 'accident waiting to happen' when the temperatures drop.

He says he has contacted Hertfordshire County Council on a number of occasions about this.

Hertfordshire County Council is asking residents to report blocked drains or flooding on the council's online fault reporting system.

The resident, who does not wish to be named, said: "The problem has been going for 30 years, since we have lived here there has always been a problem.

"The drains in much of Berkhamsted still remain blocked, especially the roads that empty onto the High Street such as Boxwell, Cowper and Kings. Also the roads above Charles Street are also in a blocked state.

"Over time I noticed how the drains got more and more blocked and nothing was being done. Charles Street got really bad last winter.

"As for south Charles Street/Kings Road- the water rushes down crosses Kings and then to the high street, this will be, if not already, a major safety issue if the roads become wet then freeze.

"We have been doing lot of walking and all this water rushes down Charles Street and then King Street and if you get very cold temperatures and it freezes that will become a very dangerous ice rink, and it is right near a school, it is very dangerous

"There were some people out here clearing drains, but they didn't sort all of them, it will cost the council too much money to do that!

"I have reported the blocked drains to the council but they have not done anything about it.

"The water is from the sewage system, and the council tends not to touch that.

"I think it's going to be a bad winter and that road with the blocked drains is an accident waiting to happen."

A spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council said: “We have an annual programme of cleaning out highway drains, however when there is a prolonged period of rain the ground can become saturated and drainage systems can be temporarily overwhelmed.

"We’d encourage residents to report blocked drains or flooding on our online fault reporting system at www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/highwayfaults where you can also see how recently each drain has been cleaned.

"Even if we can’t fix the problem straight away, we can use the information to help us plan our future work programmes.”