Residents in flooding hotspot village Wallington near Fareham ‘escape’ mayhem

Those living in Wallington Shore Road, Wallington, did see a surge of water but residents were not left swamped as had been feared.

Flooding from the River Wallington was ‘nothing out of the ordinary’ according to locals after the Environment Agency predicted this morning’s tide at 11.15am would be higher than normal due to the lingering effects of Storm Sebastien bringing a Force 7 wind.

However, Wallington was spared after gust levels fell well below that – with them only thought to have reached a force level 4.

Nonetheless, the road was still awash at high-tide after a surge leaving the upper half of the road up to 0.2m deep, causing motorists to plough slowly through the water.

Richard Boswell, who reports to the Environment Agency on behalf of the village, said: ‘The flooding was purely tidal. This is nothing special – it happens several times a year.

‘The concern came about because the Environment Agency forecast there would be a Force 7 wind from the storm, which would have raised the level of the water.’

Moves to repel flooding in the village has seen a river bund installed on one of the areas previously worst hit, along with a wall and a Hampshire Highways installed ‘sleeping policeman’ hump to prevent water spilling over the ramp.

But Mr Boswell said residents were lucky the wind did not get up – with him predicting there could have been problems for the lower half of the road.

‘We had a lucky escape,’ he said. ‘If there had been a Force 7 wind then the water could have gone over the sleeping policeman and filled up the rest of the road,’ he said. ‘The hump was built three bricks too low to stop water coming over while water fills up underneath the ramp with the drains flooding.’

The Environment Agency built a wall next to Lee Knight’s house five years ago to protect it from the river but he said the cracks are starting to appear already – and he has to reinforce it every year himself. ‘The wall only goes down two feet and has cracks in it,’ he said. ‘My biggest concern is if the wall splits.’

An embankment put up outside Mr Knight’s house has pushed water away, but the 49-year-old added: ‘It doesn’t resolve the problems, it just pushes water elsewhere.’

Barrie and Maureen Durrant, both 73 who have lived in the road for more than 40 years, added: ‘The flooding doesn’t worry us, it never comes near our house. This is what happens if you build houses and a road on a natural flood plain.’