Lorraine's hair salon's fears after floods in Ross-on-Wye

Lorraine Davies, who owns Lorraine's in Brookend Street, Ross-on-Wye, faced seven hours of work through the night to clear her salon after the most recent bout of flooding in the town.

Lorraine's has been in Brookend Street for some 40 years. Mrs Davies said:"My business, which is a thriving one and 40 years' hard work, is nothing if I wanted to sell as nobody will buy it because of drain issues."

Lorraine Davies has been at her salon for 40 years (Image: Rob Davies) This was just the latest episode in a long-running saga which has seen Brookend Street disappear underwater three times this year.

Mrs Davies is calling for Herefordshire Council to properly clear the drains near her salon to prevent the same thing happening again.

What are your thoughts?

You can send a letter to the editor to have your say by clicking here.

Letters should not exceed 250 words and local issues take precedence.

"We are up and running but I'm not holding my breath for not flooding again," Mrs Davies said.

"My husband has been talking with the council to say there are numerous drains collapsed. We told Ross Town Council in May what the issue was and there are three county council members in that council.

"My husband and stepson have worked relentlessly both in the May flooding and twice in under two weeks to get the drainage sorted, lifting gullies and manholes to let flow of water down, as well as helping me clean up my salon and with the sandbags situation, as the council said they were not responsible."

Lorraine's stepson and husband, Jack and Leon Davies, have been working to sort out the drains (Image: Rob Davies) She said she has received support from town councillors Milly Boylan and Katie Fowler.

Lorraine's has not been the only business in Ross-on-Wye to be hit by flooding.

In May, Sari Walker of nearby Little Chic said:  "We've got baby clothes and kids toys all over the floor, destroyed. I've got five machines to keep it dry but it is still very squelchy. We don't get insurance for flooding anymore."

People living in the flats and houses around the area have also been affected, with Ann Harridence saying: "The sewage network in place is not capable of dealing with the number of properties built in the areas that feed into the drains at the bottom of Brookend Street."

Sari Walker of Little Chic has also been hit by flooding (Image: Rob Davies) Councillor Ed O'Driscoll has submitted a motion on behalf of the Liberal Democrats to the next Herefordshire Council meeting. He said: "It's clear that the council's maintenance schedule for drains, gullies and culverts needs an overhaul to cope with increased rainfall so this week I've submitted a motion on behalf of the Liberal Democrat group to the next meeting of Herefordshire Council.

"The motion calls on them to ensure all drains, gullies and culverts that fall under the council are mapped, undertake an urgent programme of repairing drains, gullies and culverts, develop a full county-wide maintenance schedule that anticipates the likelihood of heavier rainfall in the future, publish the maintenance schedule so that local people can have confidence in the plans and ensure that areas most at risk of flooding are prioritised for maintenance.

"If this motion is passed, we hope it will go some way to alleviating the impact of increased rainfall over the coming years by maximising the capacity of the current system."

ALSO READ:

• House plan for this Herefordshire building
• Maxine Peake’s partner’s plans at farm
• Smoking ban UK: Hereford pub landlords speak out

A spokesperson for Herefordshire Council said: "We are currently working to address flooding in various locations across the county, including in Ross-on-Wye.

"We are aware that this is at least the third flooding incident to hit Brookend Street in less than six months, and we are working with Welsh Water to understand the causes and mechanisms of this latest incident. Whilst there will be times when any system is simply unable to cope with extreme volumes of rainfall, we and Welsh Water are committed to finding a solution to reduce the risk of flood events.

"Operatives from our highway teams attended Brookend Street to again cleanse the highway drainage system and Councillor Barry Durkin and Ed Bradford visited to better understand what had occurred and speak with residents. Operatives from Welsh Water were also in attendance."