Flooded A143 Compiegne Way in Bury St Edmunds presents further challenges to Suffolk Highways engineers trying to fix issues and clear water

Engineers are facing further challenges in fixing the issues at a flooded road in Bury St Edmunds – despite more than 300,000 litres of water being removed.

The A143 Compiegne Way has been shut for more than two weeks due to heavy flooding in the wake of Storm Henk and Suffolk Highways had initially hoped to reopen the key route this Monday.

However, the sheer amount of water, silt and debris that needed to be removed as well as significant damage to the road delayed the reopening.

Today a Suffolk Highways spokesman said that more than 300,000 litres of water had been pumped out of Compiegne Way since Thursday, which was over half the amount removed during Storm Ciaran across the entire county.

They said the water levels continued to prevent teams from accessing the highway drainage system and identifying what works were required to return the system that pumps the water to an outfall in the River Lark some 3km away.

“Whilst we have had some respite in the recent rain, water levels on Compiegne Way are not reducing and we believe saturated ground and a high-water table are compounding the road flooding and the challenges for our teams,” they said.

“Whilst continuing to use tankers to remove water from the road today, our teams will be exploring other options to remove the surface water more quickly which will allow us to progress with a more permanent solution.

“We are sorry for the ongoing inconvenience here and we will look to provide a further progress update today.”

Last Thursday and Friday, Suffolk Highways announced it had pumped away 36,000 gallons of water but three quarters of the road remained flooded.

Last Wednesday, it said the flooding at Compiegne Way was made worse due to vandalism of a water storage tank.

Meanwhile, a community leader said the noise pollution caused by the closure of the flood-hit road has been like living next to the A14.

Melanie Soanes, chairman of Moreton Hall Residents Association, said that as a result of the closure, lorries have been using the Moreton Hall estate as a cut-through, and has called for something to be done to address repeated flooding, which has been an issue over autumn and winter.

Suffolk Highways took mitigation measures in April, which included removing more than 100 tonnes of silt from the drainage system and installing new pumps, but flooding has persisted.