Somerset family can't even flush toilet safely due to garden flooding

When the Tucker family flush the toilet the water rises in the pan, giving Margaret and Paul and their two children the uncomfortable feeling that the floods outside are about to appear inside too.

The reason for the rise is clear to see outside their home at Othery on the Somerset Levels. Much of their garden, including the septic tank, has been under water for months, the drain covers are also somewhere beneath the floods and there is just nowhere for the incoming water to go.

“The loos haven’t flushed sensibly for weeks, and it takes ages for the bath water to drain away,” said Mrs Tucker.

She and her farmer husband, Paul, blame a blocked drainage pipe, which runs under the road and for which Somerset County Council is responsible. Sedgemoor District councillor Nobby Turner, and parish council chairman Mervyn Winslade agree and have called for action, but Somerset County Council says the drain won’t work properly unless neighbouring ditches are also clear.

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The Tuckers say they were given permission to clear some ditches, which are not on their land, and have done the job, and can do no more.

A Somerset County Council spokesman said: “Our officers have inspected and have spoken to the family, explaining that the council’s drains will not work effectively until the nearby ditches are free-running. The landowner has done some clearing work in the ditch, but this work needs to be completed.”