A LOCAL businessman is ‘disappointed’ with the lack of drain clearance in Wellington after his son invested in a commercial property, only to discover the building regularly floods.

Michael Tucker, who also owns property, including the Ruxtons building, in High Street, said his son George, aged 24, worked hard to save money to buy a building, but now felt let down by Somerset Council.

George’ s property, on the Blackdown Business Park, houses a carpet factory which has had to be barricaded with sandbags following frequent flooding.

During storm Chandra earlier this year, it was inundated with 12 inches (30 cm) of water.

Michael Tucker says the flooding is due to blocked drains on the road in front of the property.

He said: “Why would anybody want to invest in Wellington if the council cannot even clear the drains?

“I am very disappointed that my son, who is just starting to invest in commercial property, has faced this issue.

“When there is a flash flood, the drains outside fill up and water enters the property, as a result, the tenants have had to place sandbags outside the doors.

“It is not acceptable.”

“In this day and age, drains should be properly serviced.”

George said: “If I had known the property frequently floods, it may have affected my decision to invest.”

A spokesperson for Somerset Council said it ‘understands it is incredibly worrying when flood events like this happen’ and the authority was being ‘as supportive as possible’.

They said: “It is vital people report issues to us with as much detail as possible so we can investigate.

“The root causes of flooding are complicated and vary from place to place.

“There are all sorts of contributing factors, not least land use and the country’s ageing urban drainage systems that cannot deal with the intensity of rainfall we are seeing more frequently.

“Underlying all of this are the increasingly severe weather events we are seeing and we are likely to see more of in the future.

“We need to establish ownership and responsibility for any drainage systems - whether they are on the road or on private land, which is why we need as much detail as possible and we would encourage the owners to get in contact, in the first instance by emailing [email protected].

“If you think the problem is on the road, please go to www.somerset.gov.uk and search report a problem on the road.

“Coping with flood incidents needs a partnership approach involving other agencies in terms of identifying potential ways to reduce the harms.”

The Blackdown Business Park property was not the only business in Wellington which was severely affected by floods caused by Storm Chandra.

In January, the Wellington Weekly spoke to Marty and Tim Simmons, owners of the Woolly Shepherd, in Tonedale, after they lost £15,000 in stock due to the River Tone overflowing.

The couple are now looking to relocate after their 10-year lease finishes, due to experiencing two major floods in five years.