A Temple Street hairdresser, who says her premises and pedestrians are being plagued by puddles, has called for action to prevent passing cars making such a big splash.
Nicki Smith, owner of Golden Gate Hair Solutions, said recent resurfacing works have ‘made no difference’ in stopping her salon being sprayed with standing water as motorists drive by during heavy rainfall. Nicki says passers-by also get a soaking.
Devon County Council (DCC) closed Temple Street for nearly five weeks in January to install new drainage pipes and connections, replace old brick gullies and upgrade gully covers and frames.
Nicki, who has owned the hairdresser’s for four years, said excess water in the street has been a long-running problem.
“As soon as it starts raining, it completely floods,” she added. “I have been trying to get this sorted for years, since I took over the shop. It’s not just my shop, it’s everybody walking by.”
Nicki has suggested that DCC puts a drain outside her salon to allow the excess water to drain away. She said: “You do not know when it’s going to rain, but when it does, it goes halfway across the road like it did before. We were hoping it was going to change.
“It frightens my little dog when it [the water] bangs against the window. It happens when the cars zoom by. It’s that bad it hits the window every time.”
Temple Street resident David Ambrose, who lives opposite the hair salon, said: “When I walked back from town, I could see this water laying there. I went over to the other side and it was deep enough to cause splashing of pedestrians on the pavement. They [DCC] did a good job, but this blot on the landscape has rather let them down.”
A DCC spokesman asked motorists to drive more ‘courteously’ in bad weather, adding: “The new system will cope better than before to divert surface water off the highway, but in very heavy rainfall it’s natural that there’ll be some pooling until it drains away.
“We ask road users to drive courteously and appropriately for the weather conditions.”
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