Flooding

Advice if you witness flooding

Flooding from sewers

Contact Severn Trent Water online, see link at bottom of page or call 0800 783 4444. To assist them please have your postcode ready and record the incident number given to you. This may enable you to track your enquiry.

Flooding on roads

Contact Leicestershire County Council Highways online using the link at the bottom of the page or phone 0116 305 0001. The problem may be drainage-related or influenced by the capacity of Severn Trent Water Limited’s sewers serving the highway drains.

Flooding from main rivers

Contact the Environment Agency's Floodline on 0345 988 1188. Warnings of flooding from main rivers can be provided by email or text message by registering with the Environment Agency on 0845 988 1188.

Flooding from ordinary rivers or streams

It is the riparian owner's (for example the landowner's) responsibility to make sure that a watercourse is not obstructed. If you live on the edge of any watercourse you have a responsibility to ensure that it does not become obstructed. 

Report a flood 

Leicestershire County Council is the Lead Flood Authority and is interested in recording all reports of flooding in order to identify any patterns emerging.

Report flooding issues to Leicestershire County Council online, see link at bottom of page or call 0116 305 0001. 

Is your home at risk of flooding?

Find out if you are at risk of flooding before a flood happens. Check the risk for your area or call Floodline on 0345 988 1188.

If you are in an at risk area, sign up for flood warning messages from the Environment Agency flood warning service on the Flood Warning Information website.

Protecting your home from flooding 

It is your responsibility to protect your home in the first instance. 

If you think that your home is at risk of flooding you need to protect your home with suitable flood defence products.

The National Flood Forum, linked at the bottom of the page, is a charity set up to support those affected by flooding. They have a list of available flood protection products on their blue pages.

In an emergency sandbags can be purchased from DIY outlets ready to use in case of a flood. Remember though, sandbags are only a short term fix and may not be appropriate or effective in some flood risk circumstances.

Sandbag policy

We keep a limited number of sandbags, which can be used to protect:

• Life and important buildings such as hospitals and substations

• The elderly, disabled and vulnerable people

• Access for emergency vehicles

In an emergency situation we may be able to deliver sandbags depending upon the individual circumstances and subject to available resources, but this cannot be guaranteed.

It is also difficult to transport them when floods occur if roads are closed and we also only have a limited number of vehicles to transport them.

If you believe your property is at imminent risk of being flooded and want to request sandbags, please call 01664 502502.

If your call is an emergency, out side of our office hours, please call 01664 502 502 but select option 1 to speak to our emergency contact centre . If lines are busy there will be an option to leave a message, which will be followed up. There are arrangements in place for calls requiring escalation or urgent attention.  

More flood advice is available on the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Local Resilience Forum website, linked at the bottom of the page.