An investigation into the impact of flooding in Sittingbourne and the surrounding villages is underway.

Torrential downpours on May 29 closed roads and overwhelmed drains, with the town one of the worst hit areas in Kent.

The A249 had to be shut for much of the day after debris washed onto the carriageway at Stockbury.

Floodwater poured into the home of Shirley and John Britcher, who had lived in Stockbury Valley for more than 40 years, leaving them with a repair bill of thousands of pounds.

The couple have not been able to live in their home since.

Their frustrated daughter, Donna Collins, said: "Their house looks exactly as it did that day. They can’t live there.

"Every day they go into their house and reclaim bits of their stuff. It’s been a disaster."

Donna said a lagoon by their house is overgrown with shrubs and trees, which she believes contributed to the flooding.

An independent loss adjuster is helping the couple, who are currently renting another property.

No one from Kent County Council, which is responsible for that section of the A249, had visited her parents, added Donna.

A KCC spokesman said: "On the day in question, there was extensive and extreme rainfall across Swale and Medway, with many reports of flooding in Sittingbourne, Faversham, Doddington, Medway and Iwade.

"The cause of the flooding, as for all the other properties that flooding during this event, was the severe rainfall that the area experienced.

"The volume and intensity of rainfall in Sittingbourne and the surrounding area on May 29 far exceeded what we would expect any highway drainage system to cope with.

"The rain gauge at Sittingbourne recorded 51.6mm of rainfall in three hours, which is approximately a month’s rainfall, while the rain gauge at Wigmore recorded 75.2mm in two and a half hours, which is nearly a month and a half’s rainfall.

"Since the flooding occurred we have carried out extensive cleansing in the immediate vicinity of the Britchers’ property.

"Every day they go into their house and reclaim bits of their stuff... it's been a disaster" - Donna Collins

"We have encouraged them to contact their insurer regarding the damage to their property and provided them with details of how to make a claim if they believe KCC has been negligent."

Elsewhere on May 29, The Street in Bredgar was closed, and remained so for a number of weeks, after a bank at the side of the road collapsed following the heavy rain.

And in Iwade, water threatened new homes off School Lane.

KCC’s drainage and structures asset manager, Katie Moreton, addressing this month’s Swale Joint Transportation Board, said even if all drains had been clear, the prolonged and intense downpour on that day would still have caused flooding.

A report on the May 29 deluge is due to be published by KCC by the end of next month or the beginning of November.