Elderly homeowners 'digging trenches' to stop flood water spoiling their homes

Homeowners in a small clay country village that falls victim to flash flooding have hit out at authorities saying it's damaging their houses and soaking their gardens - but nobody seems to care.

Several residents of a short street set just behind the railway line in Lanjeth, near St Austell, say they are embroiled in a years-long battle over who is responsible for excessive surface water that is destroying their homes.

Brookfield Close is home to eight properties, mostly owned by elderly residents and pensioners, and several of them have had to take matters into their own hands to prevent any damage. After it rains, water "comes pouring down the roads" and towards their homes.

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Tristan Trudgian, 37, recently moved back in with his father Graham Trudgian, 74. He has tried to fight for something to finally change on the estate as he fears his father's bungalow could come crumbling down after years of water damage. An 80-year-old woman has even had to dig trenches when the rain comes to divert it away from her home.

"All the residents experience excess amounts of groundwater even to the point water has been coming up through the roads," Tristan said. "It is damaging every property on this estate and even a sinkhole opened up last year that was left open for months. Nothing was done.

"It was just filled in during the summer months and is beginning to sink again and all the properties are now subsiding. We have tried Network Rail as their drain flows into the estate and they just pass the buck to the council and South West Water, and when I contacted them it just got passed around again"

He said they are all "fed up" and that it's not fair on the elderly and retired homeowners whose "homes are being destroyed". One of those residents, who asked to remain anonymous, is 80 years old and, during particularly terrible rainfall, says water comes "pouring down the road".

The retired teacher and nurse lives alone and says, "I've been out with a shovel digging trenches so that the water goes into the drains. It comes down through the fields and last year it was coming down the main hill right down through the streets."

On a previous occasion, the water entered her home and destroyed the carpets so she has to take preventative measures to stop this from happening again. "I've made sure it doesn't damage my property as it did in the past and actually affected the carpets in several rooms so I had to use my household insurance."

"We have all these problems and it comes spiling down the road and they all [the authorities] say it's nothing to do with them."

"One year it came just flying down the road and pouring into our gardens and flooding our gardens too."

Dave Hunkin, 73, a now-retired former Imerys worker, has lived on the street since 1986 and says it's been getting worse, particularly this year.

"It's been steadily getting worse, really, but I've never seen it so bad as this year, and that's bearing in mind that we have had a dry spell."

He fears the excess water is caused by Cornwall's clay history with the now-flooded Blackpool China Clay Pit just moments away, as he says water just sits on the streets with nowhere to go in this clay-sodden area.

"I've had no problems with the water coming into the property but there is a railway line behind us and an open ditch so I have had to make provisions so it can't get in from there."

He said he's laid a patio and had to put additional pipes to drain the water away from his property. "In the winter when we have a fair bit of rain, it's a constant stream running down behind the back of us.

"They just keep passing us around in a circle. The tarmac is broken up down there now and when we have severe rain it isn't long after that a considerable amount of water starts running out of it.

"It's a problem and we don't want it to get any worse. Ideally, we'd really like the council to dig down to where the water is coming through the tarmac and see what's happening and what the problem is but they just fill it in."

There are also concerns about the nearby river dyke getting clogged with leaves and sticks. "I clear that out for my own benefit," he said. "if they didn't, it can cause a dam and that won't end well."

Mr Trudgian thinks his dad's property is the worst affected. "Our building is collapsing. If you put your hands on the footing bricks it turns to crumbling sand and that's holding this whole house up.

"Our property has unfortunately had it. We've got cracks in every room. My dad spends every day, in fact, he spent all his retirement years digging up and trying to sort this water. The flood water comes straight down School Hill, there is no adequate drainage and we're the first house.

"It's unsellable," he said of their home. "The land is completely sodden. In the house, you can see the beams coming through the ceilings and cracks are appearing daily. I can hear it cracking above me."

"It's completely ruined it and nobody seems to give a s**t".

A spokesperson for South West Water confirmed it has no surface water assets in the area but is going to send a team to investigate to try and shed some light on the situation.

A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: "We understand that some of the properties in this area suffer from water ingress, but this is linked to issues beyond the council’s control and as a result is a civil matter between the affected parties and landowner or landowners.

"Separately, we are aware of spring water that appears to be coming up through the public highway. We are investigating ways to manage this water to ensure the safety of highway users."

Finally, a Network Rail spokesperson said: “We are aware of reports that residents in Lanjeth are experiencing issues related to drainage in the area and have sent teams to investigate the source of the groundwater. CCTV surveys were carried out and we ensured that all drainage channels and pipes belonging to the railway were cleared and free running.

“While initial investigations show that the groundwater pooling is not an issue created by the railway, we have requested that further surveys are carried out on a pipe that runs under the highway and beneath the railway track.”