'Arrogant' drivers ignored flood road closures

Councillors criticised drivers who ignored road closures

Drivers ignored flood warnings and caused water to enter people's homes following storms, councillors have said.

More than 340 Nottinghamshire homes were flooded during Storm Henk in January as the River Trent reached record levels.

Reports into flooding across the county came before Nottinghamshire County Council’s place select committee on Monday.

One representative said drivers who ignored closures were "idiots".

'Totally ignored'

The county council is the local lead flood authority, meaning it is responsible for flood risk management and required to write a document for each different location where flooding occurred.

A total of 69 road closures were put in place, but the meeting heard many drivers did not respect them.

Sue Saddington, a Conservative councillor, said there needed to be better ways to stop people driving through closed roads.

“Many times a flood warden puts a sign out, but then a driver comes along and removes it, and the water flushes straight into someone’s house,” she told the meeting.

“They’re idiots, and it was happening all over the place.”

Ms Saddington added some flood-hit residents were still out of their homes, and would not be able to return until Christmas.

Neil Clarke, portfolio holder for environment and transport, agreed with his party colleague.

"Arrogant drivers totally ignored the signs," he said.

“I was helping in my division when I saw one send a bow wave into someone’s front room.

“People don’t realise the potential dangers – there could be a manhole cover missing under the water which a car or person can disappear into it.”

Gary Wood, the head of highway and transport, told the meeting: “We can’t put hard road closures in place to keep access for emergency vehicles.

“We will talk to the police about making it clear that people are breaking the law, but it’s not something we can enforce ourselves.”

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