Heavy rainfall and flooding at the start of the year caused chaos in some of our villages, and I have been raising this both locally and down in Parliament.
One problem has been the dip in the road at Fenn Lanes by the Dadlington Crossroads which has been flooded for quite some time. After the water cleared, the road remained closed - causing significant disruption to local people.
Many people have raised the impact of the road closures with me and I shared their concerns with Leicestershire County Council, which is responsible for highways and flood prevention and drain maintenance in our area.
Here is their response:
'Apologies for the delay in replying to your emails regarding Fenn Lanes.
Regarding the water being removed and the road closure staying in place, this was due to the unsafe conditions of the carriageway following the flooding event.
We closed the road when we had the report of the depth of the water and vehicles becoming unable to pass. Unfortunately one vehicle was abandoned within the flood water and many vehicles were ignoring the road closure at the time. This unfortunately led to severe damage to the edge of the carriageway and the exposure of utilities within the verge.
As the conditions were not safe Leicestershire County Council took the decision that the road closure would have to remain in place.
We have a drainage team attending today [10/02/2025] to work on Fenn Lanes to carry out the necessary repairs to enable the carriageway to be reopened. We will be then working on Shenton Lane which is at the same cross roads. Fortunately at the time of the flooding event the water receded on Shenton Lane and the closure was not required to stay in place.
Works are also to be undertaken with a high pressure combi unit to cleanse and check the drainage network in the vicinity following the necessary repair works, but these works will require the road to be closed again for safety.'
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I hope this is useful, and if there are further problems please do not hesitate to contact me at luke.evans.mp@parliament.uk
