Lichfield Tesco site is blamed over flood by homes

'INADEQUATE drainage' at Lichfield's controversial new Tesco construction site turned a resident's garden into a river and flooded the basement of another home during recent downpours.

Residents claim that water poured off the new supermarket giant's car park and cascaded past properties in George Lane on two occasions over the past week.

Now Tesco officials, contractors Bowmer & Kirkland, and the Environment Agency say they are investigating the cause of the flooding.

Kate Broom said her garden was turned into a river as water flowed through her land , past her house and down the street.

"It's difficult to assess how much damage has been done," she told the Mercury this week.

"But the water has run down into the last house on the street and flooded the basement.

"It is the second time it has happened within three days and it has created a water course, so it will keep happening if the wet weather continues."

She added: "The car park is a flat sheet of tarmac and we are at the lowest point of the site.

"It is a failure of the drainage system – it is just not draining away as it should. It is inadequate.

"It got fairly nasty at the time, but if it was just half-an-inch higher it would have flooded homes."

Another George Lane resident, Jonathan Bowcutt, also blamed poor drainage of the site, where the new store is due to be completed by the autumn.

"We have never had any problems like this before," he said.

"Because of all the work on the site the drains are not working."

Tesco chiefs acknowledged there had been a problem with flooding and that the cause was being investigated.

Tony Fletcher, Tesco corporate affairs manager, said: "There was an issue on the lower car park but contractors are on site to have a look and to see if anything needs to be done."

A spokesman for contractors Bowmer & Kirkland added: "We have been on site since January and despite inclement weather, this situation hasn't arisen before.

"We have not carried out any drainage work recently so we are currently undertaking camera surveys to investigate the drains and establish the cause of the flooding."

As reported in the Mercury the site has already been hit by controversy due to its 'immense' size.

Last week, supermarket bosses launched a drive to recruit 200 extra people at the store.