Skip to content

A358 road closed due to mudslide in Somerset

BBC JCB on siteBBC
Somerset County Council says it hopes to get the road open as soon as possible

Around 100 tonnes of mud and potatoes has been removed from a Somerset road, which closed due to a mudslide.

The A358 near Combe Florey, near Taunton, was shut on Monday evening after stormy conditions brought flooding to parts of the West.

Somerset County Councillor Mike Rigby said "some higher drainage capacity" had been installed at the site around a year ago.

However, "it couldn't deal with yesterday's rain", he added.

According to Mr Rigby, the council had found issues with "water pooling" at this bridge in the past.

JCB collecting debris
The clean-up operation was stalled until Tuesday morning, following the heavy rain

Work by Somerset County Council to clean-up the site was stalled until Tuesday morning due to safety concerns for staff.

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning for Tuesday and Wednesday with possible travel disruptions, power cuts and lightning.

The weather warning comes after a pro-longed heatwave caused droughts across parts of the UK.

JCB on site
Somerset County Council says it hopes to get the road open as soon as possible
Empics Presentational grey line

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]