Council blamed over floods

Residents left reeling after massive flash floods hit a Mid Wales town have pointed the finger of blame at Powys County Council.

Motorists, business owners and residents were left fighting against a deluge of flood water which took hold of Newtown town centre on Wednesday afternoon.

Houses and businesses suffered flood damage as water seeped through doors. Now, businesses and residents are blaming the county council, saying it had failed to clear a brook which burst its banks.

But the council said clearing the brook would not have made any difference due to the volume of rain.

Betty Edwards, owner of Maldwyn B&B in Park Street, said she felt the council did not carry out the necessary clearing work at the brook next to Newtown High School.

"I believe the council is not clearing the brook as often as it should to prevent this. It is not the first time it has happened," she said.

"The water builds up in the brook, bursts then flows down Dolfor Road into the town centre. We had 3ft of water in the cellar, but it was all over in about an hour.

"We might have to relay the lino in the kitchen too, but we escaped without too much of a problem."

Town mayor Councillor Joy Jones went around visiting residents who had been hit by the floods on Wednesday night.

She said: "I have never in my lifetime seen a storm like this and some bad damage was caused."

Mike Jones, of Crescent Street, said: "It came from nowhere, it caught absolutely everybody unawares. I was on the verge of reaching for the sandbags."

Councillor Russell George, county member for Newtown Central, said: "It just seems this is down to a freak occurrence with a massive amount of rain and hail falling in such a short time."

John Evans, council spokesman, said: "We have a private drainage issue in that area which we are trying to resolve, but the floods were caused by the sheer volume of rainfall – even if it was cleared the day before, the same thing would have happened.

"Our staff worked long into the night to help residents and clear debris."

By Andrew Morris