Blocked drains could cause dangerous flooding in Stockport, resident claims

Blocked drains could cause dangerous flooding in Stockport this winter, a resident has warned.

Peter Crossen, who lives in Woodford and is standing to become a local councillor in the area later this month, claims that some of the drains around Bramhall and Cheadle Hulme have not been cleaned "for years," leaving them full of mud and dirt.

He believes it led to flooded roads in Bramhall two weeks ago after heavy rain at the end of September - and claims that a "disaster" could happen this winter without urgent action.

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Stockport council said most of the drains in the area are scheduled for cleaning over the coming weeks, with some having been done in the last two years.

The Manchester Evening News found a number of drains on Woodford Road, Thorn Road, and Ack Lane East appear to be completely blocked on October 11.

Mr Crossen, who is set to stand in the Bramhall South and Woodford by-election, said: "It could potentially be a bit of a disaster if nothing is done.

"We had really bad rain a few years back, there were shops in Bramhall and people in homes that were flooded, people had to leave their homes, shops were devastated.

"My worry is that something like that could happen again, it very easily could. We've seen unseasonal rain at the end of September, it was really bad on Monday [September 30].

"Another one or two days like that and you could literally see people having to leave their homes because of flooding, that's my worry. If the council ignores this issue, they're ignoring the residents and their wellbeing. People have reached out to me really worried about the situation."

In 2016, Stockport was hit by heavy rain which caused flooding across the borough.

In Bramhall, flooding at the central roundabout blocked the road and caused damage to local shops, according to a report by the council.

Mr Crossen alleged the lack of drain cleaning in recent years has left locals in fear of what could happen over winter if there are periods of heavy rain.

Stockport council blamed the recent floods on rainfall at the end of September.

A town hall spokesperson said: "The main drainage systems managed by United Utilities were beyond their capacity, meaning roads could not adequately drain at peak periods. This is why we unfortunately saw sewage backing up in a small number of locations across the borough, and was nothing to do with gullies.

"The council has adopted a risk based approach to highway gully cleansing in line with national guidance. All gullies are cleaned on a routine cycle which for the majority of roads is every three years.

"Some routes are visited more frequently, particularly where there is a greater risk of flooding. By adopting a risk-based approach, the council makes more efficient use of gully cleaning resources and budgets and reduces the impacts of flooding such as road closures and property damage.

“The council enhanced this approach with additional one off resources from this year's budget and has ordered a new gully cleaner. This will enable us to further improve the efficiency of the service with improved jetting capabilities."

Funding has also been set aside to replace damaged gully covers, the council said.

A United Utilities spokesperson said: "We had no instances of sewers flooding the highway reported to us in Bramhall during the period mentioned.

"We have also reviewed the performance of our wastewater network in response to the rainfall and our monitors have not shown any capacity issues that would have contributed to highway flooding.

"We are happy to support the council with any request for any further investigations into this issue."