Barking Road causes more disruption to motorists after flooding again

Smaller vehicles have been unable to pass through Baring Road due to severe flooding

A road which has been been repeatedly flooded after heavy rainfall is the victim of "neglect", it is claimed.

Motorists experienced a fresh wave of disruption on Friday after Barking Road, which runs between Needham Market and Barking in Suffolk, was flooded.

The road was closed to traffic for "maintenance work" while a tanker removed flood water.

Suffolk County Council, the highways authority, has been been approached for comment.

Suffolk County Council have closed the road for one week to carry out repair work

Dr Ross Piper, the Green Party member for Needham Market on Mid Suffolk District Council, said the road had been "neglected for so long".

"The ground is so saturated that any more rain is just going to replace whatever water gets moved with the tankers," he said.

Dr Piper claimed previous contractors who cut back vegetation on the road had left the cuttings in a ditch which had contributed to flooding.

A tanker was sent to pump out flood water from the road

The affected stretch of road has now been closed until 15 December, while the county council completes it work to address the flooding.

"I'm just hoping that whatever goes on is actually going to be a proper fix to it," added Dr Piper.

He urged landowners in the area to ensure they did their bit to prevent flooding too.

"There's ways to do that, whether it's increasing tree cover, more hedgerows, marginal bits of farmland that will probably do better as flooded attenuation, so maybe wetland creation.

"There's lots of things that can be done and there's money available now - there's grants either through Defra or the Environment Agency for Land owners to do these sorts of things."

"There's only so much that a council can do in terms of cleaning ditches out and making them bigger," he added.

The county council has been approached for comment but has yet to respond.