The owner of a dog grooming centre in St Albans has blamed a blocked gulley for the sudden flooding of a century-old cottage on the site.

Yvonne Rowson, who operates Radlett Grooming Centre, “Dynevor”, at Harper Lane in Radlett, phoned St Albans MP Anne Main in an urgent bid for help after water flowed from the road into the cottage last Friday.

Describing herself as “not a happy bunny” Yvonne said flooding from the road has “stopped me running a business on numerous occasions, and it is costing me money”.

Yvonne said that despite continuous complaints to Herts county council’s highways contractor, Ringway, a nearby gulley had not been cleared of debris.

She said: “I told them they need to do something about the drains. It flooded on the morning of Christmas Eve. The gulley doesn’t keep out the water, and I’ve been complaining about it for five years. The council has done nothing.”

From 2am on Friday Yvonne tried in vain to keep water from gushing into the cottage.

She said: “But I couldn’t, it was impossible. I had the fire brigade here and they said there was no point pumping the water out because it was still coming off the road.

“Water runs off the road straight into the driveway, because the gulley hasn’t been cleared. I had over nine inches of water in the utility room. I packed towels around the floor to stop water going into the kitchen.”

Adding to the problem was horse manure being swept by floodwater from a neighbouring paddock to the property.

Anne Main called upon the council to clear the gulley.

A spokesman for Ringway said workers would visit the site yesterday (Wednesday).

Green Party district cllr Simon Grover warned that “floods like these are going to become more frequent in the coming decades, and they’ll get worse unless governments at all levels get serious about climate change.”

The environmentalist said residents could help cut the risk of flood too, for example by planting trees and using porous hard surfaces in developments and front gardens.

Cllr Grover called upon the district council to include such measures in its new planning blueprint, the Strategic Local Plan.