Scale of flood due to poor drainage upkeep (From Your Local Guardian)

Scale of flood due to poor drainage upkeep

12:02pm Thursday 2nd August 2007 in

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Heavy rain and flooding has left Addiscombe residents with thousands of pounds of damage after blocked drains left their basements in ruins.

Steve Collins, chairman of Canning and Clyde Residents' Association, said the flooding in Canning Road would not have happened if drains had been cleared properly.

He said: "This is almost an exact repetition of what happened in the road 10 years ago.

"Back then, a postmortem revealed the event would never have happened if Thames Water had undertaken any recent inspection of the main sewer in the road.

“People who have been affected by internal flooding are our highest priority but it is unlikely that the drains were blocked and more likely that the drainage systems were unable to cope.”

Thames Water spokesman

"This was found to be badly obstructed by tree roots rendering it ineffective when dealing with any type of capacity."

"This meant the sewer backs up and explodes into the low-lying basement drains, including toilets. Thames Water removed the roots and promised it would never happen again," he said.

Mr Collins and his family were putting the finishing touches to a new basement kitchen. He said that although the damage was heartbreaking, the smell of the foul water was even worse.

A spokesman for Thames Water said: "The storms brought exceptional levels of rain last month and there was flooding all over London.

"The drains in place are 150 years old and were never built to cope with levels that high and so, of course, they could not cope.

"People who have been affected by internal flooding are our highest priority but it is unlikely that the drains were blocked and more likely that the drainage systems were unable to cope."

• If you have been affected by flooding, Croydon Council will collect damaged bulky items. Call 020 8726 6000 and ask for collection.