Lanchester drains not cleared before flood, say locals

Residents in a County Durham village have said their council "failed to clear drains" before several feet of floodwater surged into buildings.

Homeowners had to leave their properties and some shops remain closed after heavy rain overwhelmed Lanchester on Sunday.

Durham County Council said it was still investigating the cause of the flood.

Gillian Kennington, who faces being out of her home for more than a year, said drains had not been maintained.

The mother of two children with autism tried to salvage as many possessions as possible when water breached their home.

"It's just heartbreaking", she told the BBC.

"I thought all the drain work that had been done would be sufficient and yet here we are again, where drains couldn't cope with the volume of water.

"It's probably at least six months, if not longer, since they were last cleaned by the council."

Emergency services - including the County Durham and Darlington Fire Service - spent several hours clearing drains and floodwater from the village.

Malcolm Cook, whose recently renovated home was left sodden, witnessed debris being pulled from nearby drains.

He said: "The council are saying the drains have been cleared but they obviously haven't.

"It's absolutely terrible, there are people along here who have not got insurance... a whole row of houses have been ruined. It's absolutely diabolical."

Family-run Lanchester Hardware was among several businesses affected by the flooding.

Jed Peaden, who runs the shop, said "thousands pounds worth of damage" had been caused with stock having to be thrown away.

He said, despite the significant hit to income, he would remain open, adding he still "wants to be here for the village".

There are fears Lanchester could be deluged by further water with the arrival of heavy rain later this week, if the drains do not cope.

Durham County Council highways services manager Anthea Smith said officials were still looking into what happened.

"We have a regular gully cleansing programme in place and following the flood our gully motors have been out to remove any further debris that had collected in the drains."

She said the council was "encouraging the public if they spot a flooded road or blocked drain" to get in touch.

The council previously said the ground had already been saturated by Storm Babet earlier this month.

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