A DEVELOPER has apologised after flooding from snow-melt submerged gardens and a well-used path in a picturesque village.

Story Homes is building an estate of 145 homes on land off Thirsk Road south of Kirklevington Primary School.

But flooding from the stretch has left some villagers angered after a public right of way and a garden on St Martins Walk were swamped at the weekend.

Yarm councillor Andrew Sherris said residents had been left “exasperated” by the ordeal – and called on Story Homes to get its act together.

“It’s about time they pulled their finger out and sorted it,” he added.

Correspondence shows Stockton Council has asked the developer to sort out flooding on the path – as well as water getting onto Kirklevington Primary School field.

The developer apologised for the flooding over the weekend – blaming “extreme weather conditions” for some gardens being submerged.

A spokeswoman for the firm said: “A team of Story Homes site staff and engineers attended the incident on Monday (January 4) and pumped out the flood water from the affected areas.

“We take this matter seriously and apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.

“We would like to reassure our neighbours that our experienced team, alongside our subcontractors, are prioritising works around this area.

“Work has commenced on construction of the Swale and direct drainage along the northern boundary to tie into the storm water network we have recently installed.

“This should alleviate surface water from our site and run-off from third-party land away from the boundaries.”

Hundreds of villagers objected to the homes south of the village when plans were lodged in 2016.

Detailed proposals were approved by nine votes to four by Stockton Council planning committee last summer.

A village shop, car park, multi-use games area and funding for a five year daytime bus service are all set to be added to Kirklevington as part of a planning agreement.

But flooding concerns were aired by some committee members at the time.

Jennie Beaumont, chairwoman of Kirklevington Parish Council, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service flooding had been “very bad” on the stretch.

“We always knew that field flooded but, unfortunately, they didn’t take much notice of what we were telling them,” she added.

“Stockton Council are doing well – their officers are really pushing the developers to sort it out quickly.

“It was a problem which arose months ago when the weather changed.

“It’s no criticism of what Stockton is doing – it’s Story who need to get themselves sorted and realise what residents, the parish council and Kirklevington Action Group were all telling them about the flooding.”

Cllr Beaumont added the parish council was still in talks with the developer for the time being – with hopes more remedial work could be completed on the site soon.

Cllr Nigel Cooke, Stockton Council cabinet member for regeneration and housing, said: “We have made the developer aware of the damage being caused to the public right of way and they have confirmed that they will undertake the necessary repairs once the drainage problem has been resolved.

“We will not hesitate to take enforcement action if it is considered that they’re not taking the appropriate action to resolve the issues in a timely fashion.

“The developer has confirmed that ground works will be getting underway shortly – and a connection to their drainage system will be installed by the end of next week which will alleviate the drainage issues residents are seeing at the minute.”