A RESIDENT who was flooded from his York home says he believes the problem was made worse by poor drains in the city.

John Findlay, whose Fishergate home is still undergoing repairs following the December flooding, said a drain close to his house had not been unblocked in some time.

He said: “I said months ago there were grates in Fishergate that if I wanted to put a thimbleful of water down, it wouldn’t go.

“The council haven’t been monitoring these drains for years.You don’t have to be a genius to figure out it’s an iron cast drain cover and it’s absolutely solid with grass growing out of it. No-one’s been near this for years, not just months.”

Mr Findlay, who is a retired engineer, said he had attended public meetings after the floods and raised the issue, but felt his concerns were not taken seriously.

He said: “I challenged the council about the drains and felt they were dismissive of my questions, suggesting it was nothing to do with them.

"I could write a book about this whole scenario. I have a house which is fully insured, but we’re now seven months on and it hasn’t even finished drying out yet.

Earlier this week, The Press reported that more than 150 gullies around York were found to be blocked after surface water flooding hit parts of the city in June.

Cllr Andrew Waller, executive member for the environment on City of York Council, said a lack of routine maintenance had blocked the gullies with debris, and poor drainage could increase the extent of flooding.

After being shown an image of the Fishergate drain supplied by Mr Findlay, Cllr Waller thanked him for reporting the matter.

Cllr Waller said work was already underway to improve the quality of drainage in the Fishergate area, with £200,000 allocated to tackle drainage issues around the city.

He said: “We are currently following through a backlog of gulley cleaning and investigation of blockages in the drainage pipe system.

“We started in March to raise the profile of this area, and many residents and councillors have provided useful localised information which has helped our hardworking frontline staff to address the problems. We have already added 1,200 gullies to the annual cleaning rounds, but recognise there is more work to be done.

Cllr Waller he would also “continue to battle for adequate funds both locally and nationally”, and encouraged anyone with similar drainage problems to report them to the council.