Flooding
It is the responsibility of Lancashire County Council to take reasonable steps to prevent water from running off the adopted highway onto private property.
Flooding of cellars or foundations caused by ground water is not a highway problem. The owner of the premises should take steps to provide tanking to their property to prevent the ingress of ground water. Contact us for further advice.
Flooding on private or unadopted roads or private property is not the responsibility of Lancashire County Council and will be reported to the relevant District Council who are able, on rare occasions, to take action in respect of some defects on private streets. It will be normal that the cost of any works undertaken by the District Council would be recharged to some or all residents of the street.
It is an offence against the Highways Act 1980 to issue or allow water to flow onto or over the footway of the highway.
Flooding is a natural occurrence and no drainage system or flood protection measures can give an absolute protection from all flooding events. The impact of flooding on the community and the health and safety risks are significant and the Environment Agency has a flood watch and warning system in place and a flood line number 0845 9881188 to call in the event of property flooding.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has policy responsibility for flood and coastal defence in England while operational responsibility for delivering the service falls to the "operating authorities", the Environment Agency, local authorities and internal drainage boards. The Environment Agency has a general supervisory duty over all matters relating to flood defence and they are also responsible for flood forecasting and warning arrangements. The Department has set a number of targets for the operating authorities which will help achieve a reduced risk of flooding and coastal erosion. One target requires the Environment Agency to work with the other operating authorities to ensure that inspections of flood defences, main rivers and critical ordinary watercourses are undertaken and, as a result of these inspections, to report to the Department on its assessment of flood risk.