A FURIOUS homeowner is calling on highways bosses to act after spending five years trying to stop flooding at her home.

Pauline Button, from Goldhanger, has been having sleepless nights due to her home being on the brink of flooding.

Her home, on Fish Street, is regularly threatened as flood water overruns her driveway.

Water build-up means the flooding comes close to her front door and threatens to enter her home.

To make matters worse, when the water finally drains away, Pauline’s driveway is left tarnished by a thick layer of “filthy” silt.

Pauline says she has tried to ask Essex Highways for help resolving the problem on numerous occasions for nearly five years.

She said: “We have been trying for nearly five years to get this resolved with no feedback whatsoever from Essex Highways.

Maldon and Burnham Standard:

  • Flooding in Goldhanger

“The pictures do not lie and tell the story that my property is under severe risk of more flooding and damage every time we get a thunderstorm or deluge of water.

“Drainage is non existent in Fish Street due to the water just going into a filled-in ditch – no proper pipes exist.

“I have logged on to the portal and logged several cases in the hope that one may get looked at but no luck.

I have been up all night following the heavy rains in the night as my bath and toilet were gurgling where it is backing up into the sewers

“Essex Highways are deeming this as a non priority, mainly because they have never come down when it has been flooded.

“The staff on the phone even tell you that no-one will visit while it is flooded, which is laughable.

Maldon and Burnham Standard:

  • Pauline Buttton

“How can they assess the situation not seeing it in real time?”

Floodwater also causes problems for Pauline’s home with water flowing into its sewers and backing up into the bath and toilet.

On several occasions, floodwater has also breached her home.

She added: “I have been up all night following the heavy rains in the night as my bath and toilet were gurgling where it is backing up into the sewers.

“With more rain to follow, I am very concerned that further downpours could result in my property being damaged further.”

In response, Essex County Council has said grants are available to residents in flood risk areas.

Maldon and Burnham Standard:

  • Silt left from flooding

A spokesman said: “Large parts of Goldhanger are at risk of flooding and highways drainage is not designed to manage high volumes of floodwater.

“We recommend that residents check their flood risk online at flood.essex.gov.uk.

“We offer property flood resilience grants to anyone who falls into an area at risk.

“This provides £8,000 per property towards the installation of flood doors, air brick covers, pumps and non-return valves.”