A major clean-up of Northumberland’s drains is getting underway – to help combat problems caused by last winter’s extreme wet weather and avoid further problems from being experienced this coming winter. 

Costing over £1m, teams will be carrying out an intensive programme of ditch cleaning, channel sweeping and gully cleansing over the coming months in a bid to cut the number of flooding issues on Northumberland’s roads. The work will be funded from the Council’s Severe Weather Reserve. 

Approving the funding, the Council’s Cabinet were told that the weather patterns and storms during last winter caused ‘significant damage and deterioration’ to the county’s road network, washing large amounts of soil, grit and other debris onto roads, clogging up ditches, channels and gullies.  

Councillor John Riddle, Cabinet Member for Improving our Roads and Highways, said: “With over 3,000 miles of road to look after and almost 85,000 gullies in Northumberland, it’s a big task to keep them clear. 

“We have already been very busy throughout the spring and summer dealing with the significant damage and maintenance issues caused by last year’s severe winter weather. 

“We are carrying out this additional maintenance work to our highways drainage systems to help avoid any further deterioration of the road network, reduce surface flooding and keep our highways as safe as possible for all users over the coming winter. 

“The issue has also been raised as an area of concern by our Scrutiny Committee and we’re pleased to be implementing this solution and are grateful for their input. 

“We’ve a dedicated team of staff running our four cleansing vehicles and tackling around 500 gullies a week – that’s around 24,000a year. 

“But the volume we have, we want to get round them all more often, so we’re bringing in specialist contractors and equipment to supplement the work of our own teams across the county.” 

PIC-NORTHUMBERLAND CC