Storm Ciarán: Plagued Lancing residential estate hit by major flooding - 'Worst I've seen for about 23 years'

Video taken in Lancing’s West Beach estate shows heavy floodwater on the road on Wednesday evening (November 1) – before the worst of the storm.

The private estate has often fallen victim to sewage leaks – which are dealt with by Southern Water – but the responsibility for floods lie with the residents themselves.

"It's the worst I've seen for about 23 years,” said Geoff Patmore, the vice-chairman of the West Beach Residents’ Association.

"I've never seen it so flooded. If they keep building on the floodplain, there's going to be a disaster within the next couple of years.

"It’s the whole of south Lancing. It's utter madness in my opinion. The amount of water must be enormous and it’s all coming south.

"Gardens have been flooded over the last four / five days. I've never seen the like. The water was very high, very dodgy. It was incredible.

"Luckily, as far as I'm aware, no houses are flooded.

"I hope we've weathered the storm but it might still be early days. We can't get out the door or walk anywhere unless you have a rubber suit and wellies.”

Mr Patmore said he and other residents ‘have been very stressed’ about the situation, adding: “We send out cries for help but very little comes.

“Someone should come out and try and help us. If a house was flooded it might have been a bit different.

"We are just not able to cope.

“It's massive groundwater flow when you've got rainfall and it's unstoppable but the amount could be eased with a bit more drainage, care and attention."

Mr Patmore gave Southern Water staff credit for their work to repair the sewers and the process of ‘clearing all the drains’.

He added: “They are doing a very thorough job but they've only got a quarter of the way through. We hope that will ease some of the flooding eventually.”

The water company confirmed the ‘surface water flooding’ was not caused by its work at the site. Workmen will be back in the area in Spring 2024 to replace pavements and complete the permanent reinstatement of the pits.

A spokesperson for Southern Water said: “We’re sorry to hear of flooding at West Beach, although we had been in the area carrying out works to reline sewers this flooding has no relation to our work and is surface water due to heavy rainfall.”