Village pub will not reopen while flood threat remains

We reported earlier this month how Jo Towle woke up at the Crown and Plough at Long Clawson to find knee-deep floodwaters in the bar area and lounge.

It was just the latest in a long line of flooding incidents at the pub and Jo says they can no longer afford to keep trading with the threat of further floods.

It is Long Clawson’s only remaining pub and Jo has been landlady for 13 years, as well as a charity fundraiser and community champion who helps organise the annual conker championships on the adjacent Pingle.

She has urged Melton Borough Council and Leicestershire County Council to do more to properly clean the culvert which runs under The Sands and the highway plus a trash screen which serves to collect larger debris from causing blockages.

Jo told the Melton Times this afternoon (Friday): “The flooding and lack of any support from the councils, whose joint failure to maintain the culvert, has forced The Crown and Plough to close its doors.

"We cannot get insurance due to a situation out of our hands.

"If the council maintained the culvert we wouldn’t flood annually with sewage – it’s been four times in the last five years.

"The business cannot afford to keep paying for flood recovery.

"The pub will remain closed and we will be forced to get jobs to pay the ongoing overheads until the councils do their measured duty of care.”

The councils sympathise with the pub’s plight but they say the cleaning of the culvert is made more complex because it passes through land which is owned by different entities.

Melton Council says it has ‘no legal responsibility’ to clean the culvert because it is not the lead flood authority or the landowner.

Jo says the council did used to clean the trash screen regularly up to 2018 but no longer does so.

County Hall says it has done what it can to alleviate floods in that part of the village, with lead member for highways and transport Ozzy O’Shea, commenting: “The culvert has multiple owners and passes through private land and we are working with the community to identify ways of improving the culvert’s flow wherever possible and supporting personal resilience.

“We have checked the sections under the highway which we are responsible for, to ensure they are clear.”

Jo disputes this and claims a recent survey on the culvert has not been carried out.

She is concerned for the future of the village with the regular flooding also affecting the doctors’ surgery, a children’s play area and residential homes.

She clearly loves her job behind the bar but has ruled out reopening while the threat of further flooding hangs over the village.

"We can’t wait to reopen, it’s our livelihood,” added Jo.

“But only a fool would throw away more money to reopen when the risk still exists.”