Littlehampton team to drill into town’s flooding problem

Flooding which devastated much of South Terrace, Littlehampton, in 2012

The Littlehampton Flood Action Group has received a grant of £2,500, which they hope to pump into a drilling scheme in the town.

The organisation is intending to drill its first borehole near Clifton Road to unearth the level of ground-water under the area.

They will then use this data to determine whether or not ground-water is, in fact, playing a significant role in the recent spate of floods.

Angela Tester, joint secretary of the flood action group, said: “This is an extremely important issue for the town.

“There have been people in Clifton Road who have had their basements flooded and we want to know why.

“The flooding can be so extreme and comes on so quickly.

“We need to know if it is the levels of ground-water below the homes that is helping to cause this.”

The flood action group aims to start the work on the first borehole at some point next month.

Angela said that it intends to apply for more cash to drill additional holes across the town, targeting other well-known flooding hot spots.

She added: “We have to see how far and how much of the town could be affected.

“The difficulty we have is to get the people who have already been victims of flooding to contact us.”

Angela explained that since 2012, victims of flooding could be entitled to cash support from Operation Watershed, a county council-led initiative to combat flooding.

She is now urging all those who have suffered basement flooding since 2012 to contact the group via its email address.

Those who have been flooding victims can send a message to Angela at [email protected]