Repeated surface water flooding in Heybridge has frustrated households this week, as Crescent Road residents complain of the third incident in a fortnight.

Residents have taken to social media, after heavy rainfall and poor drainage caused sections of local roads to flood. Affected areas include Holloway Road, Crescent Road and Hall Road. 

Several local homeowners told Nub News of their issues with drainage in the area. Due to a separate road closure on Langford Road, Maypole Road and Holloway Road, the flooding left residents of Crescent Road without a clear exit, forcing them to breach road closure rules.

Claire Guthrie, of Crescent Road, Heybridge, told Nub News: "Having the exit closed at Langford Road with no residents-only access caused a huge issue for us when Crescent Road flooded. We also had a delivery that couldn't get through to Beeches Road."

Others described the repeated flooding as a "joke", stating their continued complaints about the flooding and blockages in the three drains in the area have "fallen on deaf ears". One resident says she has contacted Essex Highways on three occasions about the blocked drains.

According to the Essex Highways website, the Holloway Road, Langford Road, and Crescent Road area currently has 19 reported drainage defect issues, while there are five open enquiries into highway drainage problems in Heybridge. All three roads have areas of high-risk flooding but are not considered "critical drainage areas", meaning they do not receive priority for potential drainage schemes.

However, Essex County Council says it only deals with drainage issues on the highways, as all other flooding is the responsibility of Maldon District Council and Environment Agency.

A spokesperson for Essex County Council told Nub news: "We've had no reports of road flooding in Heybridge, and the drains are cleaned regularly on a rolling cycle as with every other Essex Highways drain in the county."

The flooding follows excessive rainfall in the Maldon District. Surface water flooding is caused by the volume of rainfall exceeding the capacity of the drains. 

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Edited by Ben Shahrabi.

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