St John's Chapel flood funding wlecomed

The Environment Agency will work with Durham County Council to improve the flow of overspill water from a beck near six vulnerable homes on Hood Street in St John’s Chapel.

Heavy rain is currently causing the beck to overflow, with surplus water supposed to be carried away by a pipe into fields.

But residents said the pipe is too small to cope with the deluges and have seen water flood their properties.

The Northern Echo understands that the council plans to install a wider pipe thereby diverting the overspill away from homes.

One Hood Street resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said the houses have suffered floods every year or so for the past few years.

He said: “Every time it rains we are looking out the window and wondering how bad it will be for us, we dread heavy rain because we know it is going to cause problems.

“We have been waiting this work for a long time, it will be a big relief to us all when it is done.”

Work is expected to start in May.

The man said the floods usually reach a depth of about a foot of water in the ground floor of his home, across his garden and on the road.

Weardale county councillor John Shuttleworth said: “This has been a problem for a while, the sooner the work is done the better it will be for the residents.”

A spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said the funding had come from the Northumbria Regional Flood and Coastal Committee Local Levy to reduce the risk of flooding to six properties that have experienced flooding in 2007, 2009, and 2012.

In October this year, the agency is planning to start work on a flood alleviation scheme of the River Wear at Stanhope which will cost around £400,000 thereby reducing the risk of flooding to around 90 homes.

The Environment Agency has also announced plans to start a £900,000 upgrade of Spring Gardens at West Auckland in April which will benefit 402 homes, plus a £400,000 alleviation scheme at Tindale Beck in Bishop Auckland July to reduce the risk for 66 houses.