HOPING a temporary repair is enough to avoid a third flooding in two months, a Crediton man who was pressing Devon County Council to clear a drain, has seen a success of sorts.

Ralph Bebbington and his wife Jan live at Landscore on the road to Westwood.  They are on the flat part of the road.

Floodwater reaching the doorstep to one of the properties at Landscore.
Floodwater reaching the doorstep to one of the properties at Landscore. (Ralph Bebbington)

He explains: “On Saturday May 18, during the thunderstorm, I returned home to find the road, my garage, the side alley and my back garden flooded with the flood water lapping at the house sill due to a blocked road drain outside my house. 

“While myself and my neighbour tried (unsuccessfully) to unblock it with canes my wife rang the emergency helpline. The response was that someone may or may not attend.

“In an effort to stop my house from being flooded my neighbour and I lifted a nearby manhole cover and spent the next three hours manually bucketing the floodwater from the road and into the drain getting soaked in the process not only by the rain but by morons who sped through the floodwater drenching us. 

A car sitting in the floodwater.
A car sitting in the floodwater. (Ralph Bebbington)

“I did later manage to flag down a Highways lorry and inform them but as they were the traffic light guys they couldn't help but did say they'd report that we needed the drain unblocking machine (which they subsequently did). 

“The following day my wife again rang the emergency helpline stating we needed the drain unblocked only to be told that the machine doesn't work at weekends!

“On the Monday we were told that the machine needed to be ordered but there was a suggestion that it was no longer needed (presumably because my neighbour and I had manually cleared the floodwater). Tuesday, May 21 brought another downpour and everything flooded again.”

The gully sucker went there on June 13.  Ralph explained: “Guys with the gully sucker have just been. Apparently a piece of the old clay pipe has disintegrated which, along with a face flannel (don't know how that got in there) caused the blockage. 

“He's temporarily got it to run but is making no promises and reporting the pipe needs a full repair. There are only two gully suckers for the whole of Devon who are not allowed to work weekends. 

“What has annoyed me the most is that this was reported four times to the emergency helpline and nothing was done.  Two days after I reported this to Cllr Frank Letch the guys turned up.”

He continued: “While I'm grateful to Frank for chasing this up, why should it need a councillor asking questions to get anything done?  Or is Highways reliant on a 75 year-old with a bucket to clear flood water?”

Ralph is more than a bit worried the flood water could cause an accident because parents and children walk in the road to avoid the floods.

“If Highways have an emergency helpline why don't they take any notice of reports they get on it or is it simply a paper exercise ticking a box”, he asked.