Clean-up after flooding hits town

Calls to a council hotline increased after recent bad weather

People have begun clearing up following flash flooding in Staffordshire on Monday night.

A fire service spokeswoman said over 100 incidents were dealt with in just three hours. In Newcastle-under-Lyme around 50 properties were flooded.

The worst affected area was Stone where elderly residents were rescued from a complex after their ground floor flats became flooded.

Up to three feet of water closed roads and flooded homes and businesses.

'Serious situation'

The A34 in Stone at the junction of The Fillybrooks and Trent Road was also closed in both directions because of the flooding but it has now reopened.

Graham Maltby, dep ch fire officer of Staffs Fire and Rescue Service, said: "The ground is absolutely sodden so within a few minutes of rain falling, we started to receive the first of 130 calls to flooding in the Stone area.

"Roadways quickly became under water up to three or four feet deep.

"We had the lower areas of the town where many houses were flooded by flood water and slurry so we were faced with quite a serious situation for two to three hours."

Meanwhile, a council hotline received hundreds of calls a day because of the recent spell of bad weather.

Blocked drains

Heavy rain falls meant calls to Staffordshire County Councils' road watch number rose dramatically.

The council's pothole hotline normally gets around 250 to 300 calls A WEEK, but during last week's storms around 200 to 300 calls were coming in a day.

Road maintenance staff were also working around the clock to help clear flooded roads and blocked drains.

The council is spending £30m this year on resurfacing and repairing roads.

But the weather now means some of the schemes will be put back.