DRIVERS have been running the risk of getting stuck along a flooded road in the Fens to avoid a 30 mile detour.

The annual flooding of Welney Wash Road arrived at the weekend but people have been ignoring the warning signs and attempting to drive the flooded stretch from the Hundred Foot bridge to Suspension Bridge to get in and out of the village.

Welney resident and businessman Roger Giles said the flooded road had now got to the “point of no return” and drivers were no longer able to successfully negotiate the Wash.

He said: “The road flooded on Saturday and it has gradually got worse since then, but cars are still trying to get across even though it is now impassable and they have to reverse back.

“It is hard on my staff at Giles Landscapes if they have a job on the other side and it adds an extra hour of travel but we have to live with it.

“The locals here understand the situation because it happens every year but some people try to fly through it because they haven’t been taught how to deal with it and end up getting stuck.”

The Welney Washes were built to take floodwater in the Fens and beyond, especially in winter, allowing drainage of large areas of land and creating a haven for wildlife within the Washes.

Since the mid-1970s, however, a combination of factors has led to more regular summer floods and longer, deeper winter flooding.