Harrow Council has carried out an operation to clear the drains on Station Road in North Harrow in a bid to stop flash floods from happening in the future.

The road, which runs underneath a railway bridge serving North Harrow station, has been blighted by flash flooding in recent months, suffering two floods in the space of a month.

A crew from GFL environmental corporation was on the road early Wednesday (July 20) morning cleaning the drain, with the hope that doing so will allow the drain to deal with high levels of water.

A flash flood on June 8 took business owners by surprise, with a heavy downpour leaving North Harrow station under several feet of water while Soles and Heels and Special Delivery suffered damage to their shops.

During and after the flooding in Station Road, North Harrow, in June

Both business criticised the council's response to the floods , while a council spokesperson said officers would be out the next day and would be talking to the relevant authorities.

The same area was hit by another flash flood on July 12 , with water once again building up on the stretch of road underneath the railway bridge.

Businesses are now commending Harrow Council for taking action ahead of heavy rain that is forecast for the weekend, with Red Cup Cafe taking to Twitter to express its views.

'Drains still too small'

Ramji Krishna, from Soles and Heels, does not think that cleaning the drains will help solve the issue, and he said: "Cleaning the drain will not help.

I have been here for more than 30 years and this is not the first time they have cleaned the drains.

"The drainage itself is too small to cope with heavy rainfall - this is a bigger problem than just cleaning the drain. It will not help."

North Harrow station under water in June

A spokesperson from Harrow Council said: "We are cleaning and checking our highway drains which connect to a Thames Water public surface water sewer.

"We are also liaising with Thames Water to clean and check their network.

"Additionally we are also working with the Environment Agency to build a flood alleviation scheme in Headstone Manor park to raise flood protection levels in North Harrow."