Residents refuse to pay council tax

On September 26 2012 residents in a Lancashire village are threatening to withhold their council tax after claiming blocked drains added to flooding problems.

David Shaw, from Hambleton, said there have been drain problems on Sherbourne Road for the past six months. Water levels reached 2ft (60cm) in part of the street leading to human waste and rats in his front garden.

Lancashire County Council's Rick Hayton said drainage systems had "struggled to cope" with the severe weather.

"I've only had three hours sleep worrying if the water was going to come through," said Mr Shaw.

Residents from around half a dozen houses which were vulnerable kept flooding at bay with sandbags and boards nailed to their front doors.

"It's been an ongoing problem for six to eight months. We've contacted the council several times but nothing has happened," he added.

He said residents in the street had joined together planning to withhold part of their council tax.

'Rats and faeces'

"This is a situation where it could destroy homes", said Mr Shaw.

"As soon as it got dark the rats were running up and down the road because they had nowhere to go - but the worst part was when the manholes were lifted up and the faeces came out."

Mr Hayton said the rainfall had been "exceptional and drainage systems have, in many cases, struggled to cope with the large volumes of surface water".

"Lancashire County Council's highways services have been working around the clock to deal with a high volume of incidents across Wyre and the rest of the county," he said.

"We will be liaising with all of our partners, including the Environment Agency, Wyre Borough Council and United Utilities, to investigate exactly what happened in Hambleton and to look at any improvements that can be made.

"We share residents' concerns about flooding in this area and will work with them and other partners to improve the situation."

The flooding has seen the cancellation of trains between Blackpool North and Preston because of a landslide at Weeton and there are delays between Preston and Lancaster.

The Environment Agency has put five flood warnings and 11 flood alerts in place around the region. It is advising people to use sandbags to protect their properties. Heavy downpours across England have resulted in homes being evacuated, disruption to train services and school closures while many roads have been closed.