Residents struggling with flooding and tree falls have had difficulty getting through to Surrey County Council this morning to ask for help.

Deborah Gill, 49, who is stranded by flooding at her home in Beaufort Way, Ewell, said she feels "completely bereft" after being put on hold for about 10 minutes.

When the Epsom Guardian tried its enquiries line it was put on hold for 11 minutes before finally getting through to someone in customer services.

Mrs Gill said she was told to leave an answer phone message instead of continuing to hold, but nobody from the county council has rung her back yet.

She said: "I accept it is Christmas Eve and there’s lots of calls to do with the storm, but when I asked Epsom Council if there was another number to ring they could not give any other numbers at all.

"It feels like Surrey County Council doesn’t care."

She said that the water was knee-deep, a car was stuck in the flooding and a tree had come down at the end of a footpath that goes through Nonsuch Park.

She said: "The flooding is not a problem that has just happened because we had the storm yesterday. It’s something that residents have been reporting every time there has been a lot of rain over the last 10 years."

A telephone operator at SCC explained that a shortage of staff at the council this morning was the cause of the delays.

He said: "It’s because there are a lot of people calling us today and we only have so many staff. We are getting a substantial number of calls."

A county council spokeswoman confirmed that the phones were working. She said: "I’m assuming because that many calls are coming in then waits are going to be a little bit longer."

Back in November an elderly resident, from Beaufort Way, called for action to save them from becoming stranded by floods.

At the time a county council spokeswoman said the roots of an oak tree regularly spread into the drainage pipe and cause flooding there.

She said the gullies were set to be jet-cleaned for the third time this year.

Gerald Cowdry, of Beaufort Way, said: "Two weeks ago they again undertook so called remedial work to the drains and this is the result!

"Everyone trapped with no entry of exit as the road is a cul-de-sac. Some residents need carers to visit daily and this is becoming increasing difficult.

"To add to the problems today, a tree has fallen across the alleyway at the other end of the road making entry and exit on foot just as difficult."

 

TODAY'S HEADLINES IN EPSOM AND EWELL