Fed up pensioner from Hemel calls for action over repeated flooding - which he says has been going on for 30 years

A pensioner from Hemel Hempstead is campaigning for the council to do something about regular flooding in his street - which he says is caused by a lack of drainage.

Patrick Hughes has lived in Felden Lane for 44 years, and for the last 30 years he has been asking his local councillors to get the council to sort the lack of drainage on London Road between the junction of London Road and the railway bridge.

The 73-year-old says there are many elderly residents who have to rely on buses and trains, who often get soaked by passing vehicles due to flooding, when walking to the bus stop and train station.

He said: "There are not enough drains on that stretch of road to cope with the runoff that occurs when we het heavy rain.

"The drains that are there are blocked and have not been cleaned for a long time.

"One big problem that makes matters worse is that all of the drains on Felden Lane are completely blocked and have not been serviced for at least the last four years.

"The drains are so blocked that the look as though they have been concreted in!

"When it floods like this, we cannot use the footpath for fear of getting soaked and we cannot use the bus stop unless wearing wellingtons as the pavement becomes an island with deep water surrounding it.

"There are only three drains along this stretch of road and that is insufficient.

"We have had to put up with large scale disruption over the last two years with gas main replacement with road closures for weeks on end.

"The road markings including the box junction have never been replaced so vehicles block the junction. The bottom line is nobody cares!

"I notice that funds were made available to re-pave all of Northridge Way and most of Long Chaulden, plus I suspect many other places, yet this short stretch of road has needed urgent remedial work for all of the 44 years I have lived here.

"They need to look at the drainage, the road cannot cope with it. We live on the hill and when it rains the water flows straight over it, it's that full.

"We just want them to clear the drains and add more, so that the road can cope with the rain."

A spokesperson for Hertfordshire County Council said: “The recent wet weather has caused problems in some areas and we do record and investigate these where necessary.

"Our highways team have recently visited Felden Lane and have identified that the drains there do need clearing out and this will be done as soon as possible.

"The Felden Lane and London Road drains were both cleaned out in autumn 2019, in line with our normal maintenance schedules, and will be visited again in the next few months.”