WHEN Amanda Lewis went shopping last Friday, she was mindful it had been raining quite heavily - but nothing could have prepared her for the sight which greeted her on her return home.

A torrent of muddy water was cascading into her garden from a steep bank leading to the A465 Heads of the Valleys road.

She immediately called Costain, the construction firm managing improvements to the stretch, and they confirmed flooding had been caused when a storm drain became unable to cope with the amount of silt and debris being washed into it by rainwater.

(Video: Kayleigh Jowitt)

Clydach resident Ms Lewis, whose home in Dan-y-Coed Bungalows is just a few metres away from the A465, said Friday’s flooding has simply added to a long list of concerns about the road, which since late 2014 has been the subject of ‘dualling works’ to widen the carriageway.

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“There have been problems all the way along,” Ms Lewis said.

Like other residents in the area, she is especially concerned by the safety of the steep bank and wall which separates their homes from the road, several metres above.

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“I told Costain when it was built that this was an accident waiting to happen,” she added.

“I don’t feel safe.They said the bank was 100 per cent safe, but we don’t know.”

Neighbour Keath Llewellyn also added concern, saying: “The embankment they’ve built behind some of the bungalows is an Aberfan waiting to happen.

“Since the building of the dualling works, the amount of water that has come down onto our road is terrible.

“And when it freezes it’s lethal – I’ve fallen twice on ice due to it.”

Mr Llewellyn also said disruptions to traffic had also made travelling in and out of the village difficult, and the ongoing use of heavy machinery in the construction area was “terrible”.

“On top of everything, when they are working in the vicinity of the bungalows the noise is terrible, and the vibrations of the heavy machinery cause things to fall off shelves and break, but nobody cares about us in Clydach at all," he added.

One person who has been fighting the residents’ corner though is county councillor Jane Pratt.

She said: “These residents are being treated badly. To live in this situation, knowing at any moment water could flood into your house, is an extremely stressful situation to be in.”

Cllr Pratt said she had visited the bungalows with Monmouth’s AM Nick Ramsay and MP David Davies, and had also met Ken Skates AM at County Hall, Usk, to discuss her constituents’ worries about the A465 works.

“I did feel we were making progress,” she said of the meeting with Mr Skates. “The minister was very responsive and I’ve got to take him on his word.”

But she said she wanted a “full review” of the site.

“Thank god nobody was injured or worse," she said. "Some residents and elderly or disabled. They shouldn’t be treated like that.”

In a statement, a spokesman for Costain said: “At 1.20pm on Friday...we discovered a storm drain on the north side of the project between the Drum and Monkey and Dan-y-Coed was struggling to cope with amount of water emerging from the mountainside.

“The situation developed very quickly with a large amount of stone being drawn onto the eastbound carriageway, which required us to close the carriageway for 45 minutes to make it safe. At the same time the overflow of rainwater flowed down the westbound carriageway and over the boundary wall above Dan-y-Coed.

As we were attempting to deal with the overflow we received a call from a resident who was concerned the overflow was getting into her garden and may enter her bungalow. We immediately responded to her call and staff were deployed to redirect the overflow, clean a nearby public footpath that had been disrupted and to clean her garden and the top end of Dan-y-Coed, where a deposit of silt and muck had been left on the road.

“Temporary drainage has now been fully reviewed and bolstered to ensure they have greater capacity, until the permanent drainage is constructed.”

He added: "Some residents are concerned about the visual impact of the retaining wall and the position of the footbridge with regard to their properties. [They] have met with the Welsh government, Monmouthshire County Council, and Costain, and their representations are currently being considered."