Somerset road re-opened after mud and potatoes cleared up

It took several hours for the mud and potatoes to be extracted

A road has re-opened after a mudslide caused about 100 tonnes of mud and potatoes to wash into it.

The A358 in Combe Florey, near Taunton, was closed on Monday after stormy conditions caused soil to wash off an adjoining potato field.

Somerset councillor Mike Rigby said the mudslide caused "huge problems" and that there needed to be changes in the management of nearby land.

It follows a mudslide which happened at the same location on August 16.

Somerset County Council had a highways team at the scene removing the mud and potatoes.

The mudslide happened at around 19:00 on Monday, following a period of heavy rain and thunderstorms.

The continuous rain made the job "much more difficult"

"Outstanding work, once again, by our Highways team," said a spokesperson for Somerset County Council.

"Despite difficult weather conditions making the job trickier, the road has been cleaned up."

The A358 has now re-opened

Mr Rigby said he would not be surprised if the mudslide was to happen again over the next few days.

"If you look at the weather forecast for the rest of the week, it really wouldn't surprise me," he said.

"This is a massive problem, it closed a road that serves a huge amount of West Somerset, connecting Taunton to Minehead."

"Lots of people were being inconvenienced by having to take diversions."