Urgent work is needed to prevent one of Somerset's main roads from being closed off by any further flooding or landslides.

The A358 serves as the main road between Taunton and Williton, providing a vital route for tourists travelling to the west Somerset coast and for the village at the western edge of the Quantock Hills area of outstanding natural beauty (AONB).

The road has been beset with problems since the summer of 2022, with two flooding incidents mere weeks apart in August and September in Combe Florey, each requiring lengthy closures and clean-up operations.

Following a smaller incident in the same neighbourhood in December 2022, Somerset County Council has urged the local landowner to take urgent action to prevent such incidents from reoccurring.

In August and September, heavy rain produced huge quantities of surface run-off from the neighbouring fields, causing tonnes of mud, "soil slurry" and potatoes to run onto the road.

The most recent disruption occurred on December 20, near the turning to the neighbouring village of West Bagborough.

While the tenant farmer in question carried out some remedial work after the August and September incidents, these proved "insufficient" to prevent further disruption.

Portfolio holder for transport and digital, Councillor Mike Rigby, said the council was currently negotiating with the landowner over further measures.

advertisement

Mr Rigby – whose Lydeard division includes both villages – said: "Local people and road users are quite rightly fed up with this happening and the landowner has a clear responsibility to do something about this.

"We have made this clear to the landowner, and we are committed to ensuring that effective remedial works are carried out urgently so that this sort of incident cannot happen again."

The council's highways team is carrying out essential drainage upgrades and related works at Combe Florey this week in a bid to prevent further disruption throughout the rest of the winter.

Temporary traffic lights will be in force until Friday (January 6), with stop-go boards being used between January 9 and 11 as the final jetting of gullies is carried out, according to the council's official Travel Somerset roadworks portal.