SIR: I remember a time when the county council used to unblock street drains on a regular pattern, so that the system was prepared for a heavy rainstorm.

Since then I believe that budget cuts have resulted in most drains only being unblocked when a problem occurs.

Recently I have noticed many puddles around after normal rainstorms and doubt if people know who to ring up to get the drain unblocked, and whose responsibility is it to do this. Annoyingly this means that cars often spray vulnerable pedestrians with water.

The climate is changing and we are getting more really heavy downpours more frequently,

Your report of the recent High Street flood (September 3) suggested that water was pouring off higher ground creating a wave, suggesting either that the drains there were not functioning properly, or that they lacked capacity.

We seem to be getting very good in this country at making budget cuts, in many different fields, without thinking through the full implications, that are often more expensive in the long run, and end up with expenditure falling on different groups!

Andrew Rutter,

St Johns Road,

Winchester