Fears over blocked pipe for reopened flood-hit pub

The Hope and Anchor reopened in August but the new landlady says she is "on tenterhooks" over this winter's storms

The new owners of a pub which shut over repeated flooding have said they fear a blocked pipe under the road outside could mean the building could be hit again.

The Hope and Anchor in Syston, Leicestershire, shut in March 2024 after severe flooding but new landlady Lindsay Fitzhugh fell in love with the venue and reopened the Greene King pub in August.

But she said a ditch to the rear of the pub and its car park, which should take any excess water from the site, was not draining through a pipe underneath Wanlip Road.

A Leicestershire County Council spokesperson said it would "continue to work closely with the new owners to identify any required maintenance work".

She said in the run-up to Storm Claudia, she joked to customers they would have to bring a bucket with them to be served - but thanks to four pumps bought to send water from the ditch into a nearby farmer's field, the water was kept at bay.

But a permanent fix is needed before the canalside pub is hit by flooding, she said.

A ditch at the rear of the site is not draining away under Wanlip Road and off towards the Grand Union Canal as it should

Ms Fitzhugh, previously landlady of the Royal Telegraph in Derby, said she decided to take on the site earlier this year while walking her dog with her partner in nearby Watermead Park.

She said: "I had said I was not going to have pubs any more, but I came past and said 'I'm having that pub'. He just said, 'for god's sake', and here we are."

As well as preparing the pub to open over the August bank holiday weekend, in a bid to tackle flooding at the site more than £10,000 was invested including clearing the drainage ditch at the rear of the building and car park of silt and weeds.

But following the work it became clear that the water was standing instead of draining away.

'Flood risk'

Despite attempts to clear the pipe, the reason for the blockage remains unidentified, but the landlady said she was told by the county council a collapse had been ruled out.

The standing water led to an algal bloom, which had to be tested to check it was safe by Severn Trent, but the pipe from the ditch is not one of theirs.

The county council said discussions involving the pub, the Canal and River Trust and its flooding and technical teams were ongoing and the council had "had productive conversations around the Hope and Anchor's flood risk and responsibilities".

The problem with the pipe under Wanlip Road remains unsolved

A spokesperson added: "We will continue to work closely with the new owners to identify any required maintenance work and support them with steps they can take to further mitigate flood risk to the pub."

"It's my home, it's my business, it's my livelihood, it's my sanity more than anything," said Ms Fitzhugh.

"We've just put absolutely everything in we possibly could, so it's got to work. We haven't got a Plan B."