Kayaker paddles across flooded park after downpour

Residents have told Plymouth City Council that St Levan Park floods between one and 10 times each year.

A kayaker has been photographed paddling across a flooded park following torrential rain.

St Levan Park was one of the areas of Plymouth affected by heavy downpours on Thursday.

Plymouth City Council (PCC) said the area was "at high risk of surface water flooding", adding it had consulted on a possible flood relief scheme for the park.

It said it was working with the St Levan community, the Environment Agency, South West Water and its Building Resilience in Communities (BRIC) team in a bid to tackle the issue.

Outline designs

The flood defence proposals come after residents informed the council that St Levan Park flooded between one and 10 times each year.

The residents said each occasion lasted between a few hours and one day, and floods were often more than 1m deep in certain areas.

PCC said an initial public consultation had been carried out in Spring 2022 with further work on-going.

A city council spokesperson said: "We have carried out some investigations within the park to help us understand the ground conditions and are currently working on outline designs, which will be taken to a further public consultation once complete.

“We will also be working on identifying and securing further funding.”