Dewsbury business faces another clean-up after being ‘devastated’ by flooding

The Dennison Group has been located on Mill Street East, Dewsbury for more than two decades and has been affected by flooding twice in the last two years.

After a weekend away in Pickering, managing director Roy Milner decided to go and check on his business after receiving a flood warning from the Environment Agency.

Roy was devastated to find that Mill Street East was completely submerged in water.

He went to inspect the damage in daylight the next day (Monday) and said: “The water had all gone apart from under the bridge but, unfortunately, it managed to get into my building yet again.

“The vacuum machine the council have had came along and emptied the drain, causing all the water to just disappear - it is definitely blocked drains that are causing it.”

After inspecting the damage to the business, Roy said: “This time we had put flood barriers in, so it was only a trickle that came through - last time it was nearly a foot deep.”

This is not the first time Roy’s business has been affected by flooding. Two years ago the Dennison Group suffered £200,000 worth of water damage, sustained by flooding on Mill Street East.

Because of this financial strain on the business, Roy decided to install £8,000 worth of flood barriers to protect the business from flooding again.

He said: “Two years ago we had the same problem where the road was completely flooded, which also turned out to be blocked drains.

“Again, the council came down, cleared all the drains and the very next day all the water just disappeared.

“The damage last time was so devastating to our business that it was worth paying out around £8,000 on flood barriers.

“We now have a £50,000 excess on our insurance caused by the damage from the last flood. But If we hadn't been insured, it would have probably made us go bust.”

Roy believes the flooding is caused by a lack of maintenance and blocked drains, describing the road as “something from a third world country”.