A Burton woman has told how she risks getting soaked by passing cars every time she leaves her house when it rains because of blocked drains.
Michelle Whittaker says she feels like a prisoner in her own home when it pours because flood water builds up outside her terraced house in Uxbridge Street due to blocked drains. And the road is so busy with cars, she says that come the rain, dirty rain water is constantly being splashed up against her front door, which opens straight on to the pavement. If she opens the door when a car is passing she ends up getting soaked.
The water also sits in the road around the drains, which means she can't cross outside her home it is so deep.
She now wants the county council to do something to solve the problem.
However, Staffordshire County Council says the on-street parking in Uxbridge Street makes it difficult for it to reach the drains due to cars being in the way.
Miss Whittaker said: “To go to the shop across the road I have to walk down the road to Bubbles laundrette then cross the road and walk back on myself as I can’t get over the water.
“I reported it last year and they haven’t done anything. I have contacted my MP Andrew Griffiths.
“These drains need to be unblocked. There is one outside my house and it goes up to the butchers.
“It is getting worse
“The cars will come along and splash water into my house. If I am coming out of my house, the water splashes into the kitchen and I have to clean it up. It is dirty water. It is disgusting.
“I am just fed up with it.”
The council says it will look at contacting residents in Uxbridge and ask them to move their cars to allow work to begin.
County councillor Helen Fisher, cabinet support member for highways said: “Local councillors and highways officers are working to identify streets in Burton that require gully emptying. However, this is always difficult when on-street parking is involved, as we rely on people to move their cars ahead of us cleaning them. We will be working with the residents in Uxbridge Street so we can empty the gullies and prevent further issues. We will also look to work with the borough council to undertake street cleaning at the same time.”
