Burton Joyce residents claim they have to wear wellies to leave their homes during torrential downpours because drains “just can’t cope”.
The corner of Whitworth Drive, which links to the original Nottingham Road in the village, is routinely left submerged in water after heavy rain.
Rainwater from a nearby field travels down a ditch along Whitworth Drive, then enters a culvert under the road, where it is released elsewhere.
However, residents living nearby say the drain system “just can’t cope” in extreme weather, and more maintenance is needed on the regularly blocked ditch grates and water pipes.
One couple, who have lived near the culvert for 15 years, say the drain at the end of the their driveway is like a “letterbox” and regularly gets blocked with debris when the corner floods.
One half of the couple, a woman, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “We have floods at the bottom of our driveways to such an extent the only way we can actually leave is either wearing high wellingtons, or in the car – you can’t walk in normal shoes.
“The water coming down is already bringing twigs and debris so it soon blocks it. It just doesn’t work.”
The resident said the flooding happens “more than once a year”, continuing: “The way the climate’s going at the moment, we’ve had much more heavy rainfall this year than ever before, so it’s going to get worse.”
Her partner said two to three inches of mud is left behind once the water clears, and Nottinghamshire County Council has to clear the street with a tractor and road sweepers.
He added: “When it’s steady rain, I think it’s alright, but when you have a sudden downpour, it just can’t cope, it breaches that culvert.”
“That grate [at the bottom of the culvert], the water just bursts over the side, so whether they could raise the banks up? When it gets into the pipe, it’s just not a sufficient diameter to cope with the volume.”
Jillian Archer, 69, who has lived at the flooding hotspot for 22 years, told the LDRS her husband decided to raise the entrance of their driveway to stop the water that was coming “seven feet up the drive”.
She believes more regular maintenance is needed on the culvert.
Ms Archer said: “The water’s got to obviously come down off the field, so if they put some more barriers or a drain barrier somewhere further up to try and stop it.
“We’re pre-fortified against it with the driveway being slightly higher. If it comes down we’re out with brushes when it subsides to wash the mud away… we try keep our own spots clear, but there’s not really much else we can do.”
A section of land in between the junction and the Colwick Loop Road serves as a bund – a mound of earth used to control water flow – where residents say the ground underneath is filled with cages and stone dozens of feet deep to help collect and filter rainwater.
Ms Archer said: “If it did, if that functioned as it’s supposed to do, any water coming down from that culvert would go straight into that.
“When that gets to capacity it filters it straight off into the dyke across the road which then filters down towards the River Trent.”
A 466-signature strong petition was given to Nottinghamshire County Council in September 2025 by Conservative Councillor, Mike Adams, calling for improved drainage at the junction.
The authority gave its response in March, where a document stated it was aware of the “historic” flooding problems there, continuing: “Following Storms Babet and Henk, works were carried out to clear vegetation, de-silt the watercourse, and install leaky dams to help trap debris
upstream.
“The grill is now inspected monthly, as well as before and after storm events triggered by severe weather warnings. The grill is cleared as needed during inspections.”
The council says it will be carrying out a survey on the culvert system underneath the road where if it’s found to be working properly, the problems may “stem from water unlawfully flowing” onto the roads from higher up land.
Speaking to the LDRS, Cllr Mike Adams said: “When kids are walking to school then end up walking on the road to navigate themselves through the water.”
“So much water comes down. It’s not just a drizzle, it’s a torrent… It spills into the A612 where if you’re driving inland towards Burton Joyce the whole left lane gets covered in water.
Cllr Adams hopes the pipe carrying the water under the road gets expanded in future or that more drains are put along that section of Nottingham Road.
The LDRS asked the County Council for an update on its survey works. No response was given by the time of publication.
