Devastated couple after heavy rains flood their bungalow

A COUPLE living in a flooded bungalow are devastated after the weekend’s rain left their home ruined.

On Sunday morning, crews from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service were in Loughborough Road, Mountsorrel, battling to keep water out of two bungalows and a two-story block of flats.

Both bungalows and the two ground floor flats are understood to be extensively damaged.

John Westhall, 79, who lives in one of the bungalows with his partner, Pat Yates, said his carpets and furniture were ruined.

He said: “We’ve had bad flooding outside the house a few times in the past four years and people have been out to try to do something but they’ve failed to stop it happening.

“This is the first time there’s been water inside the house and it’s a couple of inches high, so it’s ruined the carpets, the sofa and other furniture and it’s all in the conservatory. It’s awful.

“Our neighbour next door is a pensioner and her home is also flooded.

“We woke up at 7.30am and it was still dry inside at that point but it was coming up pretty quickly. I’ve never seen it so badly flooded in the 20 years we’ve lived here.”

He said the problem was a culvert over the road, on private land, that was blocked.

A Leicestershire County Council spokesman said the authority was working with private landowners to try to sort out the problem in Loughborough Road.

He said: “Our flooding gangs have been working round-theclock to distribute sandbags, clear gullies and close flooded roads.

“Investigations in Mountsorrel have suggested the issue involves a blocked culvert which is on private land at the front of the houses.

“Although this is the responsibility of the homeowners, work is still being done to find out which specific property is affected. We have a role to assist landowners investigate problems and have been working closely with residents.

“These complex investigations are ongoing and we’ll continue to assist the homeowners to find a solution.”

Fire crews said they were called at 8.07am to Loughborough Road in Mountsorrel where they have been working to protect residents and their homes by pumping out the water, isolating the electricity and moving several cars that were surrounded by flood water.

The block of four flats next to John and Pat’s bungalow also has extensive damage to the ground floor.

Nicholas Hackett of the owners, Castelnau Properties, said: “There are four flats and the two on the ground floor are flooded, so we expect there’s quite a lot of damage.

“The residents have all been evacuated and are staying elsewhere.

“We’ve had nothing like this since we’ve had the building, which has been about three years.”