Council defends drain cleaning after flash flooding

A city council has defended its drain-cleaning programme after flash flooding affected businesses and residents.

Heavy rain hit Peterborough on Thursday, causing flooding in areas including Lincoln Road, St Paul's Road, Crown Street and Woodcote Close.

Among the businesses forced to close on Lincoln Road were the Madina Grill and The Crown. The pub's landlord Peter Turnbull, whose cellar was flooded, raised concerns he had not seen "anyone cleaning the drains" along the road or elsewhere in recent years.

But Dr Shabina Qayyum, Labour leader of Peterborough City Council, said: "We have a complex network of drainage systems under Peterborough... we do survey them on a regular basis."

Qayyum added that she had called for a survey of "all our gullies to see where there are any remaining blockages".

Prior to the flash flooding, Qayyum said the authority had been given "48 hours' notice" of the weather, but that it was "difficult to try and predict which drains were blocked until we'd seen or were reported by residents".

Turnbull, 66, told BBC Radio Cambridgeshire that rain had entered his cellar and was knee-height.

While the pub had experienced flooding before, Turnbull said this time the damage was less severe, with stock losses of around "£700 to £800".

"Years ago, they'd come round and do them every two to three months; now you don't see anyone cleaning drains, especially in the Lincoln Road area," he added.

Lincoln Road underwent a £3.4m regeneration project, which was finished earlier this year, with works including new cycle stands and seating and a new signalised crossing.

BBC Look East's weather presenter Alex Dolan said 43mm (1.7 inches) of rainfall occurred within several hours on Thursday - about 70% of what would be expected in a month.

The Met Office issued three yellow weather warnings for heavy rain and thunderstorms from Wednesday to Friday for parts of the UK. All were in place for Peterborough and Cambridgeshire.

A yellow weather warning for thunderstorms came into force at 12:00 BST on Friday and will continue until 21:00.

Owner of Madina Grill, Mohammed Tariq, said he felt "scared" after water started to enter his shop on Thursday.

He said he videoed the water outside his shop on Lincoln Road and shared it on social media.

"The council came after a couple of hours and cleared all of the water away, and we really appreciate the cleanup," he added.

The Ortongate Shopping Centre, to the west of the city, was another area hit by the flash floods.

The Ortongate Sports Bar & Fanzone and Ortongate Fitness had to close because of flooding and leaks.

Similarly, the George Campbell Leisure Centre in March had to shut its gym and studios, due to the rain.

Goldhay Arts, a charity which supports adults with special educational needs and disabilities through performing and visual arts, also closed after its ceiling fell down.

On Facebook, it said it had to send people home because the building became "highly unsafe".

"Thank you to the parents who came out of their way to help clear the sodden plasterboard up, the staff who worked non-stop trying to get the water out of the building and to the pizza delivery guy who delivered us pizza in the rain," they said.

Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue said on Thursday it had seen an "increase in calls around flooding following the heavy rain".

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