PUB regulars say a huge puddle outside their local is Essex’s newest water feature.

A blocked drain results in water collecting on the pavement outside the Hospital Arms in Crouch Street, Colchester, every time it rains.

The water leaves a thick layer of silt, which makes the path very slippery.

Lindsey Heward, who runs the pub with her sister Ros Puffett, said: “We get comment after comment. Everybody comes in and says: ‘I see the lake is back’.

“It comes halfway across the pavement – it is absolutely disgusting.

“Anyone who walks through it in the dark will ruin their shoes and if they slip on it, they could break their leg.”

Gazette:

Staff alerted Essex County Council to the problem in July and have regularly renewed their appeal for help, but to no avail.

Ms Heward said: “I’m disgusted the council hasn’t done anything about it.

“It reflects badly on us because it looks like we haven’t bothered to do anything about it. We have to pay our business rates right on the dot, but we don’t get the service we require.”

The landladies have put a sign outside the pub asking people to complain directly to the county council.

A council spokesman said: “Our highways team is aware of a drainage issue in Crouch Street, thought to be due to a blocked gully.

“This is due to be cleared by the end of January.”