Flood advice

Emergency evacuation

If an area needs evacuating call 999 and ask for the fire service. They will contact Cheltenham Borough Council’s emergency response team if required. In an emergency dial 999.  Don’t put yourself in danger or enter flood water. If someone is made homeless by flooding call Cheltenham Borough Homes on 0800 408 0000.

River flooding

The Environment Agency (EA) are responsible for responding to flooding from main rivers. River and property flooding can be reported to them. Call the flood incident line 24/7 on 0800 80 70 60 or email  [email protected].

Highway flooding

Highway flooding is the responsibility of the highway authority Gloucestershire County Council. Call 08000 514 514  or email [email protected].

Mains water leaks and flooding from public sewers

Mains water leaks and flooding from public sewers is the responsibility of Severn Trent Water. Visit the Severn Trent website or call 0800 783 4444. Private sewers and drains are the responsibility of the landowner.

Lead local flood authority

Gloucestershire County Council are responsible for investigating and reporting flooding incidents, managing flood risk from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses. They also produce the local flood risk management strategy and provide local co-ordination. You can view the Gloucestershire Flood Guide online. To report flooding to the county council you can use FORT (Flooding Online Reporting Tool).

Contact details: 01452 425 000 or email [email protected].

Cheltenham Borough Council

Cheltenham Borough Council is responsible for granting land drainage consent and resolving riparian (land owner) issues for ordinary watercourses. An ordinary watercourse is a watercourse which is not a main river. We are the local planning authority and support community resilience and collaborative projects to reduce flood risk. We also look after watercourses and measures to help with flooding (such as trash screens) on our land.

We also have a network of Flood Wardens who provide a vital link between their community and local authorities during a flood. 

Contact details: 01242 26 26 26 or email [email protected]

Land owners - riparian responsibilities

Someone who owns property which is next to a watercourse or has a watercourse running through it, is called a riparian owner. Riparian owners are responsible for watercourses within or next to the boundaries of their land. A watercourse includes a river, stream, culvert or ditch. It is important to carry out regular maintenance and checks.

There are two categories of watercourse:

• Main rivers - please report issues with main rivers to the Environment Agency. View a map of main rivers.
• Ordinary water courses - please contact Cheltenham Borough Council about ordinary watercourses (any areas not marked on the main river map)

Useful information for riparian owners can be found by visiting Gloucestershire County Council's waterside living guide or the owning a watercourse information on GOV.UK.

Property owners and residents

Property owners are responsible for protecting their property from flooding. Demand for flood products increases during a flood so it's better to be prepared. Cheltenham Borough Council is not able to supply sand bags to individual properties. Sandbags, flood boards, sandless sandbags and air brick covers can be purchased from most builders’ merchants or online via retailers and websites like bluepages.org.uk. For advice about flood products and flood insurance you can call The National Flood Forum charity on 01299 403 055 or visit  nationalfloodforum.org.uk

Are you prepared?

View our flood advice page.