Highway flooding is a nuisance for everyone, and overgrown or blocked drainage ditches can be just one of the many causes.

Island Roads is responsible for a proportion of ditches that run alongside the highway and work is regularly undertaken to keep these cut back and clear of debris to allow water on the highway to drain effectively.

However, many more of the roadside ditches belong to local land and property owners.  It is their responsibility, by law, to ensure ditches are kept clear and land adequately drained to prevent water, earth and vegetation from slipping onto the highway area. Clearing away debris after hedge-cutting is also important as this can often clog up the ditches and prevent them from functioning properly.

If this work cannot be done quickly and satisfactorily, Island Roads may remove the debris to keep the highway safe and any costs for that work will then be passed to the landowner.

For more information on these responsibilities please view our leaflet ‘Working together to ditch highway flooding’ via the following link https://islandroads.com/storage/2022/01/Island-Roads-Ditch-It-leaflet-2022.pdf

To report a ditch that needs maintaining, please contact the Island Roads’ helpdesk on 01983 822440 or report it via our online form.