Motorists warned of flooding disruption

Following last week’s severe weather, rising temperatures have caused the snow which fell to melt. This allied with rain overnight has led to some flooding in parts of the county

this morning.

The flooding has led to some road closures, including Deerness Bridge.

Durham County Council has put diversions in place while the bridge is closed while alternative arrangements have also been made for local bus services and school services.

Details are available at www.durham.gov.uk/deernessbridge.

Other road closures included Broadgate Ford, Ushaw Moor, and the C127 at Tanfield, between the junctions of the C128 and Tanfield Lea Business Centre.

John Reed, the council’s head of technical services, said: “The combination of the melting snow and the overnight rain has led to surface water on many of our roads.

"Our gully cleaning vehicles have been deployed to clear excess water where possible and our highway inspectors have put out flooding signs to warn drivers.

“While the bridge and a couple of other routes are closed at present, other affected roads are passable with care.

“Our advice is always for motorists to drive carefully to the conditions and only drive through standing water slowly where it is safe to do so.

“We will endeavour to get the closed roads open as quickly as possible, once it is safe to do so.”

Information on road closures, schools and bin collections can be found online at www.durham.gov.uk/alerts.

The council is not expecting a significant risk of flooding to properties but can provide sandbags where there is an imminent risk of water getting inside a premises. These can

be requested by calling the customer services team on 03000 26 0000.