Call to obey road closures during floods at Burnham Market
Some motorists have reportedly been ignoring the signs
Last updated 11th Feb 2021
Drivers are being urged to respect the road closures and diversions in place through Burnham Market.
The village has been hit by flooding, prompting Norfolk Police to close Church Walk and put up barriers.
However, there are reports that some motorists have been ignoring the signs and moving barriers to get through. This is causing waves in the flood water, which is then getting into people's homes.
County Councillor Andrew Jamieson who represents the area around the surgery is completely flooded calling the site 'a mess'
With some people choosing to ignore road blocks adding to the problems for households he said:
"There is no doubt that having dirty water sloshing around your kitchen is something that is intolorable and is something that is a deeply stressful and we want to get that resolved as soon as we possibly can."
MP James Wild is keeping a close watch on the situation.
He said:
"The heavy rainfall that we've had for a number of weeks now, topped off with Storm Darcy is creating real problems of flooding in Burnham Market and other villages in North West Norfolk. I'm talking regularly to the Environment Agency, Anglian Water and the Highways about the measures they're taking to try and reduce the impact in the water level and road closures are part of that. So, if there is a road closed then please follow the diversion signs, don't ignore them, otherwise the danger is you may inadvertantly lead to someone else's home flooding, which is a terrible experience and we should all play our part to try and avoid that."
An Anglian Waters spokesperson said:
"Our teams are continuing to work across the region to do all we can to help customers and keep our network running. Following such persistent rainfall on already saturated ground, groundwater levels are extremely high and sewers are simply not designed to carry the volume of floodwater we've seen or take excess flows from rivers and streams. This is what is causing the flooding we are seeing, rather than a specific problem with our network.
"In order to help alleviate some of the recent flooding in Burnham Market, we are currently pumping flood water away into nearby rivers and streams as part of a local agreement with the Environment Agency, meeting strict environmental criteria.
"We're currently responding to very high numbers of customer call outs which means we need to prioritise work so we can help customers whose homes are flooding or where there is a risk to the environment. We will help all customers as soon as we can however it may take us several days to reach everyone, please bear with us.
"We would urge our customers to sign up to the Environment Agency's Flood Warning service for the latest flood alerts in their area. Local councils should be contacted for problems with road drains, keeping gullies clear and issuing sandbags if they are needed."
A spokesperson for Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service, said:
“We are working with all the agencies involved with the flooding at Burnham Market and are ready to provide practical support if required.”