RESIDENTS living close to a Dudley Wood right of way are calling on Severn Trent to fix pipework which is causing the entry and nearby gardens to flood whenever it rains.

The right of way between Cradley Road and Bristol Road, is used on a daily basis by residents and parents taking their children to nearby Netherbrook Primary School.

But whenever it rains, drains in the entry overflows leaving ankle deep dirty water for everyone to wade through.

The garden of one elderly couple who live close to the pathway also regularly floods whenever the pipework overflows.

Fed-up residents have put together a petition and concerned councillors have written to Severn Trent but haven’t had any reply.

The headteacher of Netherbrook Primary has also submitted a letter to the water company, after children arrive at school with wet shoes, socks and trousers from having to walk through the water. Dudley Wood councillor Bryan Cotterill, said: “This is an official right of way, and is a well used route, particularly when children are at school as they use it as a safer route to school.

“We had the council out to look at it, but they said the flooding pipework belonged to Severn Trent.

“We gave them a deadline to reply to us, but that has now passed and we haven’t even had the courtesy of acknowledging our letters.”

Mr Cotterill added: “This pipework needs to be repaired immediately. We appreciate we are probably not the only ones they have to deal with, but two wrongs don’t make a right.

We should be able to use this public right away without the flooding. With winter coming up we need the pipes sorted out now.”

A spokesman for Severn Trent said: “Severn Trent Water does not own the land where this right of way is situated.

“We do have a surface water drainage sewer which runs very close to this access path, so following the Dudley News' alerting us to a potential problem, a sewerage team will be visiting the site to check for any damage or problems with this drain.”