PARENTS and teachers at Beechcroft School are asking for action to be taken over a problem which often leaves youngsters drenched when they go to school.

Every time it rains heavily, the road opposite the school floods because several drains are blocked. As a result, people trying to enter the school get soaked by passing traffic.

The problem has been going on for several years and now parents say they have had enough.

Mum-of-two Gemma Di-Lella, whose five-year-old daughter Freya goes to the school, wants the council to sort it out.

She said: “It has got to the stage where she is afraid of going to school because she gets soaked all the time.

“I am by no means the only parent who is fed up of this.

“Every time there is rain, the road floods and this been going on for years.

“It may not sound much but this is a real problem.

“It’s obviously not healthy for them to be starting the day soaking wet, especially when it is cold. This is not an occasional problem. It happened this morning.

“I think the school have been trying to get something done for two years but nothing has happened.”

Gemma says the alternative is to take a longer route around the puddle but this means crossing a busy road.

The headteacher, Joanne Rutt, says she has been at the school for more than 18 months and the problem existed before then.

She said: “We have staff, pupils, and guests coming in soaking wet because of the cars driving past.

“It is not uncommon that we have to spend time at the start of the day having to find spare clothes for the children. I had a visitor yesterday who apologised for the way she looked because a car had driven past when she was walking in.

“This is a problem which really needs to be sorted.”

The council have acknowledged there is an issue and will look to solve it in the coming months.

A council spokesman said: “We are aware there is a problem with the drainage outside the school and we are sending the gully cleaning truck there as often as we can as temporary measure.

“There is an underlying issue that needs further investigation and which might involve excavation, and we plan to do this in the next few months when other essential work that has already been scheduled has been completed.”