Run off from road eroding & flooding

[clarkec321]

Hi,

Been a long time reader of this site and I'm now ready to take the plunge and actually get on with what I've been reading about for ages.

I've got a bungalow which sits about 1m below road level and the front drive is about 20m long, when it rains water streams down the driveway eroding it, past my house and actually ends up contributing to the back garden flooding. I also own the neighbouring field which run alongside the road.

My project is actually a huge one because I need to construct some sort of French drain along the front of the house, and maybe a herringbone system on the back lawn, which then drains into some sort of field drainage system, but before I do that I can reduce the problems by combating surface water running off the road.

The road is a busy A road and there is no sewer system as it is a very rural location (apart from the bloody road) there is not really a drainage ditch along the roadside, if there ever was it looks like it hasn't been touched for about 20 years.

I've just got a couple of questions

1) Are the council/highways agency/water authority responsible for this run-off water? and if so which one?

2) If they don't take responsibility am I within my rights to construct a kerb along the roadside with a fractionally higher than normal dropped kerb across my driveway to prevent the flow of water... this may prevent the road draining though (although I'm not really bothered about that if they won't help me

[dig dug dan]

just as you have a legal duty of care to prevent water run off from your property entering a highway, the highways authority MUST NOT allow their water to enter yours!
You have every right to get them to do something about it!
You would not be allowed to put any sort of kerb in unless it was 100% in your property

[Dave_L]

Either raise the drop kerb to give you a 30/35mm upstand from the road surface (expensive but the proper way to do it) or form a 'hump' in the tarmac behind the kerbs (cheaper but not so effective)

I don't think Highways will be at all interested, most if not all have had their budgets slashed of late.