TALKS have been held to try to come up with a solution to severe flooding problems in Ardleigh after a family’s Grade II listed home suffered damage just before Christmas.

Ancient House in Colchester Road has been engulfed in water twice in the last eight months following heavy rainfall. The first time was in May following a 12-hour record downpour and again in December.

Two other neighbouring villagers at Ancient Cottage and Little Shemmings have also faced similar issues over the same period.

This week Tendring District Council (TDC) said an action plan has been set-up following successful round-table talks with Essex County Council (ECC) and the Environment Agency (EA).

Leader of TDC Peter Halliday said: “There was a real commitment on all sides and everyone has gone away to carry out some work before coming back together in around five to six weeks with an update.”

Mr Halliday visited Ancient House just after Christmas to view the problems for himself and met with owner Tim Woodgett, his wife, Heidi, and their three children.

EA is going to carry out a CCTV survey of the culvert upstream of the property and try to identify any problems, while ECC will look at its maintenance commitments and ensure the CCTV survey can be undertaken effectively.

Mr Halliday added: “We are now all pulling in the same direction and I am confident that by working together we can identify a way forward.”