A furious mum has hit out at the state of Dover’s drains after flooding forced her family to take a long detour on the way to the beach.
A picture taken by our reporter shows three young children unable to walk through the Townwall Street underpass, which connects the town centre to the seafront.
Following heavy rainfall, the subway flooded, making it impassable to residents.
It is not the first time the walkway has become submerged under water, and Laura Coward is now urging authorities to take action.
The 43-year-old, who lives in the town, said: “I have counted more than 30 blocked street drains in Dover in a couple of weeks.
“As we are paying our council tax we should have them cleared regularly. No wonder the town is flooded so often.”
Ms Coward and her children, Yasmyn, 10, Youssef, seven, and Farrah, six, were on their way to Dover beach on Monday, July 7 when their path was blocked by a pond of floodwater at the Townwall Street underpass.
It happened after torrential rain poured down the day before.
The underpass was completely sealed off and the family had to take a 15 to 20-minute detour on foot to get to and from the beach.
Ms Coward lists hotspots for blocked drains, such as Folkestone Road, Coombe Valley Road and Castle Street.
All are inside valleys and are most vulnerable to flooding.
Ms Coward said: “Drains are blocked because they are not cleared often enough and debris and rubbish build up.
“There also needs to be more street sweeping because that stops rubbish getting into the drains in the first place.
“I moved from Clapham in south London to Dover five years ago and we never had blocked drains there.”
One of the worst affected areas was East Street in Tower Hamlets, where a couple told how water swept into their bedroom in a basement flat.
Water also broke into properties in Devonshire Road and Castle Street as a month’s worth of rain poured down in half an hour.
One East Street resident reported bad drainage there 18 months ago and said nothing had been done.
The Townwall Street underpass has regularly been flooded before, including in October 2022.
Teenagers were then seen jumping barriers to get across the busy and dangerous A20.
Work is currently ongoing in the subway to make improvements.
This will include new “bold and creative” visuals on the walls, resurfaced footpaths and cycleways, repainted handrails, walls and ceilings, renewed cycle lane markings, cleaned light fittings and the replacement of broken tiles and drainage grills.
The work is part of the multimillion-pound overhaul of Dover town centre, which is being undertaken by Dover District Council (DDC) and includes the creation of the Dover Beacon project – an education campus and business centre on nearby Bench Street.
Of the flooded underpass, a DDC spokesperson said: “We do understand householders’ concerns about flooding and would stress that our contractors regularly clean the streets in the district.
“The frequency of these cleans depends on the location.”
The schedule can be checked on the DDC website, where householders can also report street cleansing issues.
In a statement, KCC’s cabinet member for highways and transport, Cllr Peter Osborne (Reform UK), said: “We understand the distress caused by the recent flooding in Dover, which saw almost a month’s rain in just 30 minutes – conditions beyond most drainage systems’ capacity.
“KCC maintains highway drains, while private and mains sewerage systems fall under other authorities.
“We clean the drains and gullies along strategic routes annually, and other roads every two to three years based on risk.
“East Street in Dover was last maintained in July 2024.
“In response to the flooding, we’ve launched a recovery plan to clear drains on affected roads, with work already underway and due to finish within four weeks.
“We ask residents to support our crews by moving vehicles where needed.
“Residents can report drainage issues via our online tool, and we’ll inspect and repair as necessary.
“As the lead local flood authority, KCC will also carry out a full investigation to help manage future flood risks.”
