Buckinghamshire Council has acknowledged the 'frustration' of a pub landlord and pensioner couple amid ongoing flooding issues that have 'destroyed' a once-pretty garden and car park. 

Alexandra Van Someren, landlord of The Horse and Jockey on Church Road in Tylers Green has not had access to the pub’s 15-space car park in a nearby layby for over a year after damage to a council-managed soakaway caused a sewage pipe to burst and pump waste onto the road and into the garden of next-door neighbours Patrick and Jane Frizoni, both in their seventies.

The issue, which saw Thames Water workmen and barriers shut off the area, including all of Patrick and Jane’s garden, has materially impacted business at the pub and “destroyed” the couple’s garden furniture – and is yet to have an end in sight.

Jane and Alexandra both believe the party holding up an end to the long-running saga is Buckinghamshire Council, which still needs to repair a faulty soakaway on the road before Thames Water can complete its repairs – creating a “ridiculous situation that gets worse each time it rains”.

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Steven Broadbent, deputy leader and cabinet member for transport at the council, has now acknowledged Jane, Patrick and Alexandra’s ‘frustration’ at the problem – but confirmed that it is not likely to be solved anytime soon.

He said: “We appreciate the delay with repairs at this site is frustrating for local residents and would like to reassure them that this is still a priority.

“Unfortunately, the original plans for simple replacement of the damaged soakaway have had to be revised following the need for more extensive works including a borehole.

(Image: NQ)

“This requires the use of specialist machinery and permission must be granted from the Environment Agency in order to comply with current legislation.

“The changed scope and consequent delay mean that this work needs to be carried out separately from the works already completed.

“An application for appropriate permits to deliver the newly designed highway soakaway and borehole is underway. Once obtained, this work will be scheduled around the other priority highways flood and drainage schemes elsewhere in the county.”

Speaking to the Free Press on Wednesday, September 25, Jane said she had been told there would be no word on compensation for the damage to their garden until the project was complete and had heard nothing from Buckinghamshire Council regarding the issues since last October – something she described as “very disappointing”.