Stockport council's highways chief was told to "look in the eyes of residents and apologise" after fears that blocked grids caused homes to flood in the borough.

Cllr Grace Baynham faced a grilling from opposition members on grids and gullies during a meeting at Stockport town hall on January 16, two weeks after devastating floods on New Year's Day.

Alan and Lyn Russell, whose house flooded on January 1, were sitting in the public gallery while the meeting took place.

The couple claimed they reported a blocked grid outside their home to Stockport council on December 6 – but said nothing was done to fix it.

As they welcomed in the New Year they found two to three inches of water in their home in the early hours of the morning, with a "lake" of water on the street on the grid.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) visited the property on January 3 to see the carpet had been ripped out and nearly all the furniture was left damaged, with grids on nearby Ack Lane West appearing to be completely blocked by mud.

Alan and Lyn Russell (Image - Jason Roberts / Manchester Evening News)

Cllr Baynham was asked twice during the council meeting on January 16 to look at the family and say sorry on behalf of the council – but she said the town hall is doing "everything [it] can" to tackle the issue.

Conservative Cllr Peter Crossen accused the Lib Dems of finding "excuse after excuse" for not clearing grids, after he raised the issue with the council in October telling the LDRS that blocked gullies in Bramhall could cause dangerous flooding.

Ms Baynham hit back during the meeting and said the previous government left the council underfunded and forced to make savings.

Blocked grids are becoming a major concern for some residents who say they are living in fear of heavy rain causing roads to flood again.

Earlier this week, Stockport council called on the government and United Utilities to bankroll upgrades to the borough's drainage system to stop the issue happening again in future.

Blocked grids in Stockport as seen on January 3rd (Image - LDRS)

Cllr Baynham said a "significant" amount of cash is needed to fund the work but that the council's own budget has been "savagely reduced" in recent years.

Stockport's Labour opposition group also questioned whether the council's gully cleaning programme is working.

Cllr David Meller said blocked grids were not the "primary cause" of floods, but the "infrastructure management within the council has a question mark" over how it is working.

He added: "When we see residents poking at drains with mops and sticks to unblock them and seeing water suddenly drain away, it suggests to me that the three-year [gully cleaning] regime that we have got at the moment may not be working."

A motion by Stockport Green Party was approved during the January 16 meeting at Stockport town hall, urging the council to take 'radical steps' to become better prepared for flooding in future.

The motion was amended by Labour councillors who called for 'an immediate and comprehensive review of the existing grids and gullies maintenance programme.'

Stockport council has already said it will launch an investigation into the problems to find out what can be done differently in future.

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