The council have pledged to fix hazardous drainage arrangements in Milverton next month.

Persistent flooding at Jubilee Gardens in Milverton prompted the District Council to administer a temporary fix. 

The storm drain by the Creedwell Orchard car park was opened, and a brown tube fed in to it to deposit excess water. Nearby areas were sandbagged as an additional measure. 

The open drain is adjacent to a public footpath, down which schoolchildren travel on their way to school.

At first the open drain was surrounded by cones and tape. It wasn’t until councillor Gwilym Wren raised the issue that fencing was installed around the perimeter. 

Aside from being hazardous, the measure failed to prevent flooding. Local resident Francis Oliver Donnelly, 87, took it upon himself to install drains to prevent the flood waters entering his garage. 

He said: “The water board spent a lot of time looking at it, they were talking about putting in drainage to deal with it.” 

He added: “It’s not going to deal with itself, it’s going to keep coming up. We’ve had to put up with it for years without any sign of an answer.” 

Now the Somerset West and Taunton council have confirmed they will be carrying out works to the site. In a statement they said: "A contractor is booked to commence the works in February, but these may be slightly delayed whilst we await technical advice to satisfy consent from the Highways Authority."

They added: "The work will involve adding extra drainage to mitigate minor flooding caused by an old well after the recent high rains.  Once the contractor is onsite, the footpath through Jubilee Gardens will be closed for two weeks, however, there will be no direct impact to our tenants in the sheltered bungalows."