LAST week, as on many regular occasions in the past, the A449 Worcester Road, Ledbury, flooded.

As a result chaos reigned once more as traffic on this main road to Worcester struggled to get through and several cars broke down resulting in police resources and several council vehicles being at the scene until well after midnight.

All of this waste of manpower and resources could have been avoided if adequate maintenance had been carried out on the existing drainage system.

The drainage system consists of an outlet pipe which runs from the ditch, under the road, into a stream in my garden, then into a lake in the grounds of Upper Hall.

All totally fine if the outlet pipe is kept clear.

However, a thorough job is never done.

When the council last did the work they did not clean out the outlet pipe and the rubbish from the ditch was just piled up at the side of the ditch waiting for the rain to wash it back in again!

This is the main road to Worcester, and with Knapp Lane currently closed off it has been worse than usual as there is no alternative route for motorists.

Ledbury trade must suffer if potential shoppers can’t get there.

Ernest Joynes

Ledbury