Thunderstorm caused area around Prince of Wales pier flood

John Sullivan only took over the running of the Prince of Wales Pub on Market Strand in August for Punch Taverns after the previous landlords left in April.

He said the downpour at 9am on Saturday morning was so quick it took everyone by surprise. He blamed leaves blocking the drains for causing the flooding.

The area flooded in minutes (Image: Tina Legassick)

“It was so quick that downpour, it caught everyone out,” he said. “It was like flooded in ten minutes from one end of the street to the other end of the street.

“The drains were full of leaves which blocked all the drains up. Then the cars coming through were sending waves up against the building.

“The sewage didn’t come up, but the black sludge did. We had about an inch of water behind the bar, it came down the alley went through to the back and left a really bad smell.”

The line where the flood water reached is still visible (Image: Newsquest)

He said he and Matt from the Café Strand had worked together to clear the leaves but by then the buildings were already flooded.

“The leaves literally piled up on both drains and the water was not going anywhere, but we cleared all the leaves off before the council turned up when all the water had gone.”

The flood water, which remained there for about half an hour, also flooded the Red Cross charity shop opposite.

“It was [flooded] in minutes,” said John. “It was really biblical. Then just like that [snapping his fingers] it stopped. Which was great, another half-an-hour we would have been swimming.”

He said South West Water have said they are going to give him bollards to put at the top of the road to stop cars if it does happen so they can’t come round.

“They’ve got to get underneath this,” he said “and get this done it’s being going on for years. It’s not fit for purpose.”

He said couldn’t open for quite a time that day because of all the mud and the sludge and had to bleach everything. He lost takings on Saturday plus the extra cleaning all day.

The former landlords bailing out the pub in 2013 after flooding (Image: File)

In April last year The Environment Agency said it was working with South West Water and Cornwall Council to improve the surface water drainage network around Market Strand and the Prince of Wales Pier.

A Defra spokesperson said: "Frequent heavy rainfall causes surface water to cascade down to the Prince of Wales Pier area.

"We will construct systems to drain that water into the sea, better protecting shops and residential premises.

"The scheme will enable further investment by businesses and the local authority safe in the knowledge that flood risk has been reduced."

It went on to add: "The flood scheme will reduce risks associated with surface water flooding and will allow further growth in a town centre waterfront location."

However it has still not materialised and the Packet has asked the Environment Agency for a comment as well as South West Water and Cornwall Council.

The Packet has also asked Falmouth Truro MP Jayne Kirkham for a comment on the situation.