ILKLEY councillor Martin Smith has contacted Bradford Council's gully cleaning team following last week's flooding which saw a deluge of water smash into a basement flat in Skipton Road.

Forty-nine-year-old Mick O'Brien was rescued by neighbours during the flooding which occurred after torrential rain on Monday afternoon and evening. Mr O'Brien, other residents and business people in the row of Ilkley terraces are blaming Bradford Council for failing to clear leaves from gullies.

Now Cllr Smith (Con, Ilkley) said he had contacted the Keighley based team to arrange the clearing of all gullies around the Skipton Road/Bolton Bridge corner, following "excessive leaf fall from the trees on Yewbank Close" following gales.

"I will ask that these gullies are put on the more frequent cleaning rota to ensure water is removed from the highway as soon as possible," said Cllr Smith. "If it becomes apparent that the drain connection from the gully to the sewer was damaged on the replacement of the main sewer following the Christmas floods then I will get the team to explore this possibility.

"There was some concern also that the gullies at the junction of Dean Street and Leeds Road require cleaning and inspecting for breakages on the drain connection to the sewer."

Cllr Smith added: "Following the gales of earlier this week and the torrential rain associated with it was apparent that the work carried out on the Backstone Beck by the Environment Agency on clearing the culverts across the main road (A65) and the dredging of the Beck itself resulted in no flooding to the A65 and the industrial estate down Ashland’s Road. It is essential that the grille to the beck is frequently cleared of twigs and rubbish and we all need to view this regularly and contact officers when it is apparent that clearing is required."

A Bradford Council spokesperson said: “The gullies and drains on this stretch of road are scheduled to be cleared on an 18 month cycle and our street sweepers are out clearing the roads and pavements in Ilkley on a daily basis.

“Unfortunately the recent storms have meant that more leaves have fallen in a short period of time and this combined with high volumes of water has caused problems with surface water.

“Our gully team have been and checked the gullies on this road and they are clear. Our street sweeping teams will continue with daily rounds in Ilkley.”

“If problems do occur they can be reported and we will investigate. At this time of year we often find that some gullies are simply covered by leaves which could be swept up by anyone with a brush handy. This would save people having to report this and wait until we have crews available to investigate.”