OUR infrastructure is no longer adequate to deal with torrential downpour, concerned residents have said.

Back in May, the Leader reported how torrential rain wreaked havoc across Flintshire as people saw their gardens flooded and sandbags needed to be deployed.

In Shotton, some homes were flooded out causing extensive damage – a stark difference to the weather we have seen so far in June.

Derek Povey, who lives near to the 33 Club playing field told the Leader his bungalow saw water coming in from ‘every direction’.

He said: “Behind my fencing there is a drain cover on the park which is solid and heavy to lift so no water gets down there properly and when there is heavy rain it floods behind me.

“It’s been close before but never caused me any major issues until the other week when it was like a lake and it burst through my concrete.

“It just came through and I couldn’t keep it out the house. As I’m trying to keep it from coming out the back, it was coming through the front, it was like a river.

“The bungalow next door to me was hit bad too, we are at the bottom of hills so everything runs down to us.

“It was mainly the flooring that was damaged, the water got into every single room of my two-bedroom bungalow.

“Luckily I had a very good neighbour across the street who came across with a water pump, they were very good.”

Derek, who has lived there since 2003, said despite water often affecting the field, he has never been overly concerned about flooding of his property until now.

He added: “If we could change the drain cover behind my wall that would be a big help.

“If we could get a drain and water could get down there permanently there would be no issues.”

At the monthly meeting of Shotton town council, calls were made for a schedule of work plans to see how future issues would be impacted.

Cllr Mike Evans said: “We’ve always had problems in certain areas but not to the degree we had the other week.

“Hopefully it was a one off but you never know. Some of those bungalows have been there since the 1950s and this is the first time something like this has happened on this scale.

“It was like a geyser coming out of the manhole in some places. I don’t think our infrastructure is adequate enough any more, we are talking old pipework and drainage systems.

“It is my fear that this will happen again. We need to keep on top of it and identify why it flooded and have a regular regime of clearing.

“Derek’s home was completely flooded out, I went past the other week and he had all the flooring pulled up outside, it was like something from a movie.

“There was flooding in so many areas, even Hwb Cyfle was closed for a few days due to flooding and that is a brand new building.

“It is very concerning because if it can happen once, it can happen again.”

Jack Sargeant, MS for Alyn and Deeside, added: "I am very concerned by the recent flooding in Shotton, and I completely agree with residents that a course of action is needed immediately to ensure this does not happen again.

"I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for those whose homes have flooded, if I can support you in any way please get in touch by emailing Jack.Sargeant@senedd.wales."