Residents at Smallbrook Gardens have been raising the alarm about flooding in the drive outside their homes for at least the last 12 years. Now they have got together to demand that something is done. A spokesman for the residents, Mr Gordon Cowmeadow, told the Ross Gazette: "We are not trying to stir up trouble but enough is enough."

The residents explained that they have had to put up with their paths and the drive being flooded regularly for years and now it is getting worse. The problem is caused, they believe, by the drain not taking rain water away, possibly because it is in the wrong place and also because of the slope of the drive.

One resident, Val Waters, told the Ross Gazette that she had been very worried recently when she wanted to attend a funeral as she simply could not get through the water from her bungalow to the car.

She said: "I am fed up of having to put wellingtons on if I want to go out."

She said that when she moved in about four years ago her garden area was gravel. She thought this might be making the problem worse so she had it removed but it is still as bad every time it rains.

The residents of Smallbrook Gardens are elderly and many have additional problems such as mobility. They agreed that other residents in the development have suffered much worse flooding as it went into their properties, but they said that this was exceptional and where they live it is happening all the time.

They also agreed that Herefordshire Housing and Amey had done a lot of work to the other parts of the estate but they said, they come here, look and go away again. They showed the Gazette pictures of flooding in 2001 to show that this was a longstanding problem.