Shropshire Star

England's longest serving Santa warns of Bridgnorth flooding dangers

England's longest serving Santa believes his town is in danger of flooding due to drains not being cleaned out properly.

Published
Ray Hulse is angry about the lack of maintenance on the drains

Ray Hulse, 74, has had his festive cheer sapped by concerns that crumbling tarmac on Hospital Lane, Salop Street, Cartway and Hermitage Heights could result in water gushing through the highways.

Mr Hulse, who is also part of community team Bridgnorth Low Town Action Group, believes the damage to the roads has been caused by a lack of drain cleaning by Shropshire Council.

He said: "When the Kidderminster road was resurfaced, they put new manhole covers down but they didn't clean the drains. So when it rains, the water can't get away. The tarmac is breaking up again at Quattford and it's been fixed twice already.

"It's breaking up by The Coach House in Low Town and leaving a lot of surface water. I was walking my dog one day and we got splashed.

"The council needs to spend some money on cleaning the drains.

"Water is very powerful when it gets going, and it will rip up the tarmac and cause flooding quite easily."

Shropshire Council has been contacted for a response.