West Sussex County Council highways teams have cleared more than 3,000 drains in the first two weeks of February 2026 to help keep roads moving across the county. This work follows a period of severe weather that left significant standing water on local routes and caused a rapid increase in the number of potholes.
Since the start of the month, crews working for West Sussex County Council have also fixed more than 1,800 potholes to make journeys safer. To speed up the repairs, the council has introduced evening and weekend shifts and brought in an additional drainage jetting vehicle to its fleet.
At the A29 Shripney Road in Bognor Regis, workers pumped 12 million litres of water into a nearby ditch to clear the highway. This volume of water—roughly the equivalent of five Olympic swimming pools—was removed to prevent long-term road closures for drivers in the area.
The council is working with the Environment Agency and Arun District Council to find long-term solutions for water overflowing from local drainage ditches. They are also coordinating with local landowners to ensure private ditches are kept clear to help water drain away faster.
Since April 2025, highways teams have cleared more than 75,000 drainage channels across West Sussex. This is part of a wider maintenance programme to reduce flood risks and improve road safety during extreme weather events.
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