Terrington St Clement villagers frustrated by more Northgate Way flooding as Anglian Water investigates

Discontented villagers were left unable to use their bathrooms after several inches of rainwater flooded their street in the latest chapter of an ongoing saga.

Residents of Northgate Way in Terrington St Clement are no strangers to problems brought on by heavy rainfall.

In fact, some have told the Lynn News that it has been giving them headaches for as long as eight years.

Last weekend as adverse weather hit the area, they were once again left in a difficult spot as water gathered on the road. Many were unable to access their driveways and footpaths without being soaked.

Jane Noble, 73, told the Lynn News she and neighbours have been hit by the same problems for “many many years”.

“I could still here it rushing outside when I went to bed,” she said.

“Traffic was going single-file at the weekend, because it was so deep on this side.”

Ms Noble says that Anglian Water and Norfolk County Council have both visited the street in recent years, with new drains installed in a bid to ease the water flow.

However, she says that last weekend, water was pouring out of a sewer drain in the road which has four holes in it.

An Anglian Water spokesperson said: “We’re working hard to keep our sewer network flowing during the winter months and with the increased volume of water recently from various storms (we’ve had ten named storms since September), as well as land and road run-off and flooded water courses, the recent rain is falling on heavily saturated land.

“Because of this, our sewers across the region have been impacted by rainwater and groundwater, making less capacity in our sewers – once the levels have dropped, these issues should pass.”

The company’s local technicians are planning to look at how its pumping stations are running in the Terrington St Clement catchment to “see how our assets are coping”.

However, Ms Noble said: “It’s been going on for many, many years. It has got worse.

“We have had them out so many times. We want that drain in the middle of the road sorted out so it doesn’t back up.”

Another Northgate Way resident, who has lived on the street for more than a decade but wished to remain anonymous, said the flooding issues date back at least eight years.

“My view is the residents are generally not told anything,” he said.

“This is a main road, things like this should not be happening.”

The resident said that last weekend, the drains were full and the stretch covered by flood water was around 80m in length.

“This issue has happened many times in previous years but nothing seems to be done to rectify this issue permanently,” he added.

“It would be nice to have the council and Anglian Water actually come and give us a proper cure that will allow the water to flow properly through the village.”

Norfolk County Council was approached for comment, but the authority failed to respond.