Waddington estate floods damaging my mental health - resident

Flooding outside homes on Pitsford Close on 20 October

Repeated flooding on a housing estate near Lincoln has left one resident wishing she could move out because it has harmed her mental health.

Sue Waterfall, who lives on the development in Waddington said her road had flooded every year for five years.

She said sewage had washed into the gardens and it left her "fed up, depressed" and "very stressed".

Anglian Water and developer Beal Homes said the surface water flooding was designed to prevent homes flooding.

Ms Waterfall said residents on Pitsford Close had previously opened up a drain, leaving a hole in the road, in a bid to get rid of some of the floodwater.

She said a nearby attenuation pond, which was supposed to fill with water during heavy rainfall, "just stays full".

"I have got to the point now where I want my flat to flood because then they will have to put me in emergency accommodation and it will get me away from here. I'm not coming back," she said.

"I'm fed up, depressed, it's affecting my mental health really badly."

Sue Waterfall said the situation was affecting her mental health

Another person living at the development, Stuart Bridge, said he "felt so sorry" for the worst-affected residents.

"I have heard of people having toilets backed up and problems with sewage and all sorts of things."

A spokesperson for property developer Beal Homes said the drainage system was "working exactly as it was designed and approved to do".

They said this included enabling "some rainwater to back up onto the site infrastructure in the event of extreme rainfall, such as recently".

Anglian Water said the developer's surface water infrastructure was "working as intended"

Anglian Water said the developer had ensured all pipe connections where "foul was incorrectly piped to the surface water have been resolved".

They said the management of surface water was "working as intended" and had been approved by North Kesteven District Council and Lincolnshire County Council at the planning application stage.

"Unfortunately, there will sometimes be weather conditions where rain is extremely heavy or sustained, when the attenuation isn't enough," they said.

"When this occurs, the road on Pitsford Close will flood. This flooding, whilst inconvenient, is by design.

"The threshold levels of the property are set substantially higher than the road for this reason."