Highway drainage

Ditches are watercourses which can be found alongside roads to assist in the drainage of surface water. From time to time these ditches will become blocked and in particularly bad cases they may even cause a flood.

Although Suffolk County Council has the right to drain a highway into these ditches, it is the landowner's responsibility to ensure that the ditch is not blocked. 

For more information on ditches and riparian ownership, please visit our riparian ownership in Suffolk page. 

You can report a blocked drain or problem with a manhole cover online using our Highways Reporting Tool.

If you come across a missing or collapsed manhole cover call 0345 606 6171. 

Exceptions

You should contact your district or borough council when:

• highway drains are blocked by leaves and litter
• there are blocked drains in a car park run by a borough or district council

If there is a blocked drain on a trunk road, inform National Highways by phoning 0300 123 5000.

You should contact the landowner if there is a problem with:

• drainage from private houses, roads or land (Anglian Water may also be able to help with this)
• open ditch drainage systems next to roads

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