'Heroes' save animals after land 'sacrificed' in floods

Ms Johnson's animals were saved thanks to residents acting swiftly during the bad weather

When smallholder Joanna Johnson put a plea for help on social media, she had no idea that so many of her friends and neighbours from the Bedfordshire village of Marston Moretaine would brave the wind and rain to come to her aid.

Following recent heavy rain in the area, she believed her land flooded due to excess water from drainage pools next to the side of the A421 that had been left submerged.

At the weekend, National Highways said 60 million litres of water still needed to be pumped out from the flooded road.

Ms Johnson said those who helped save her animals were the "heroes in this".

"They were here throughout the night, wading through water sometimes chest deep to swim my sheep, goats and ponies to safety. Hour after hour," she said.

"I'm so grateful."

Ms Johnson explained the water hit her smallholding "like a tidal wave" after the area was hit by bad weather in the past week.

"It came over the fence fast and within minutes the enclosure was engulfed," she continued.

"If I hadn't actually been on site, all of my animals would have drowned before I could have done anything."

Joanna Johnson's smallholding close to the A421 heavily flooded leaving her animals to be rescued

Her land lies close to the A421 at Marston Moretaine Interchange that remains under water.

She believes National Highways "sacrificed" her land "for the sake of the road".

The huge drainage pools on the other side of her fence had become overgrown, with trees and shrubs growing through the reeds, she says.

It is not possible to see the pipes that are meant to disperse the water because they are obscured by weeds.

After these pools overflowed and flooded the neighbouring land in January, contractors were sent to find out why.

They told local residents that some of the pipes that take the water away were so silted up they could not even get a camera through to check them, and others had not been connected properly, so did not work.

Ms Johnson said she has asked the highways agency to do something about the issue.

"They knew there were animals here but they didn't care," Ms Johnson added.

"They must have known the volume of water they were pumping off and what it would do, and they did it anyway.

"I have lost everything. My animals survived but, without anywhere safe to keep them, the local council says I must now rehome them."

'Over and over'

Bedfordshire is not a county prone to flooding.

The Greensand Ridge passes through it, and most of the local farms drain their land using ponds systems.

Pat Davis has lived in Marston Moretaine for 58 years.

Her house was one of around twenty on her street that also flooded recently.

"This has only been happening since they built the dual carriageway," she said.

"I don't ever remember it flooding before then.

"It's now happening over and over again - twice this year.

"And Highways England say they're only responsible for the bit close to the road itself."

Ms Johnson said her land had been completely destroyed due to the flooding

This section of the A421 is relatively new, completed in 2010.

It even won the British Construction Industry Award in 2011.

This flooded stretch was dug down under an existing road, and built with its own pumping station and drainage pools on both sides to deal with any excess water.

However this pumping station had flooded in the heavy rain and could not operate leading to tankers being brought in.

In a statement, National Highways said: "We are not utilising an available National Highways balancing pond close to Marston Moretaine for pumping, to ensure we don't impact local residents.

"All the areas we are moving water to have been carefully considered, with advice taken from the Environment Agency, and the local Internal Drainage Board, to ensure we are not impacting local communities.

"These areas are all being closely monitored, and pumping/tankering will cease should these areas become unable to safely hold any more water."

'What do I know?'

There is a small brook at one end of Ms Johnson's smallholding. It has been freshly dredged and water is gushing out of a pipe dug into the bank leading from one of the drainage pools.

You can hear the pumps operating just yards away on the road.

The statement from National Highways was read to her.

"Looks like pumping to me", she said in response. "But what do I know?"

At this moment she received another flood warning for her smallholding.

She laughed and added: "It hardly matters now, I've lost everything already. But at least my animals are safe."