Drain cleaning along a busy A-road that sees major flooding when it rains has been branded “unacceptable” by angry residents – who have repeatedly reported the problem.

The A40 in Gerrards Cross is a major route through the town between Beaconsfield and Denham – but large puddles form whenever it rains because the drains are packed full of debris and mud.

Frustrated residents who say they have alerted Transport for Bucks on multiple occasions about the state of the road say it is making the busy thoroughfare “dangerous”, with one adding: “It looks to me like they haven’t been cleaned in years.”

Another added: “Even when they clear them they remain blocked due to decades of neglect. They use a sucking machine which is clearly ineffective. It’s all the standing water that’s damaging the roads.

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“Whenever you report blocked drains via FixMyStreet, you receive a standard fobbing off email saying it’s on a cycle of work.”

Others branded it a “disgrace”, saying: Never known a council like it, where does our money go?”

One resident told the Bucks Free Press TfB have “misled” MP for the area, Dame Cheryl Gillan, who previously raised serious concerns about flooding on the A40 between Beaconsfield and Gerrards Cross.

In the letter, which has been seen by the Bucks Free Press, TfB said on January 29: “Whilst our evidence is that the gullies remain operational, they are prone to silting being at the lowest point of the system, and therefore are cleaned more regularly than other surrounding areas.

“When attended, the gullies in the location of the standing water were blocked by detritus, litter and silt. These have been cleared and the water has drained away. The road was then swept of the silt that remained and the road was clear as of the afternoon of 15th January.”

They added that the district council has been asked to add extra sweeps to the main A40 Oxford Road, while Veolia also sweeps the road from the Wapseys Lane junction up to the domestic waste site at the top of the road.

A spokesman for Transport for Bucks said teams are working flat out to solve drainage issues across the entire county in the wake of Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis.

They said: “Gully emptying and other related drainage resources remain fully occupied following the continuing poor weather recently, with saturated ground contributing to numerous areas of slow drainage.

“High levels of silting are also occurring as detritus is washed into gullies from surrounding land.

“Although we aim to visit all notified issues as quickly as possible, we must continue to prioritise work where property or safety is directly affected by flooding.”