AN investigation is set to be carried out to stop a blocked waterway flooding homes in Hadleigh.

Residents of The Crescent, The Avenue and Bilton Road, were left with thousands of pounds damage to their homes after a stream running under their properties became blocked after heavy rain.

Water gushed into people’s gardens and homes in August and then again on Christmas Eve.

Now, flooding experts from Essex County Council will be putting cameras into the sewers next week to try and understand the cause of the problem.

The footage will be used to spot any blockages, assess the condition of the pipes, and discover what other sewers run into the watercourse. Hadleigh councillor Norman Ladzrie welcomed the news and said the flooding had left residents miserable.

He said: “I am delighted. This is very good news and hopefully this should go a long way to alleviating the problem.

“About four or five homes were flooded and it was an awful situation for them.

“They were really shocked by what happened because it had never occurred before and took them by surprise.

“I think you have to pay tribute to the neighbours who helped them out because, although it was bad enough, it could have been much worse.

“A lot of the problem was getting someone to take responsibility, because they all wanted to wash their hands of it.

“It’s down to people nagging to get something done that this has happened.

“I must bow to the experts and leave them to decide what should happen, there were talks of having the whole area piped.

“But the dyke is a run-off for the playing fields, so how would the water get into the pipes? We will have to see.”

Among the victims of flooding were Erina, 77, and Tom Adams, 86, who were left with £3,000 damage when 2ft of water came into their home in Bilton Road in August.

Michael and Carole Holyoak, of The Crescent, also had to pump water from their home when it was flooded in August and Christmas Eve.

The county council has sent out letters to around 50 households in Bilton Road, The Avenue and The Crescent outlining the plans which are set to start today.

A County Council spokesman said: “This is a case where a short- term solution to mitigate flooding has been identified, but we are still awaiting partnership funding to be confirmed.

“We are working very closely with all the partners and residents concerned during this investigation stage.

“It remains a landowner responsibility to ensure proper flows are maintained for most of this stretch of open and piped watercourse.”