After many years of trying Bepton Parish Council may finally have achieved a solution to the flooding of the footpath outside Frogmore.

As villagers will know we have been trying to have the problem of the flooded footpath, outside Frogmore towards Midhurst, resolved for some time. It appeared to persistently drop off the list of repairs that the County Council, as highway authority, commited to carry out. With the County Council’s encouragement and advice, the Parish Council applied for a grant under Operation Watershed which provides funds to address flooding problems.

We were successful in our bid and have now received the funding. We are presently waiting on the next stage, which involves the County Council and commissioning the work from their preferred suppliers. Unfortunately there has been considerable rainfall recently and the path is under water again. We hope that progress will be made quickly.

And we are grateful to our County Councillor, Gordon McAra, for his support. Cllr McAra has chased the County Council on our behalf, not least because he personally saw the flooding this week and the impact on a young mother with a push chair – as we all know, her only option was to risk life and child, by stepping out into the road at a very dangerous point.

We shall keep you updated on progress.