Flooding in a village may soon be eased after it was agreed to implement a land drainage system immediately.

Three homes in Bedford Road, Lower Stondon, have had to deal with floods several inches deep in their gardensbecause of an old ditch being piped through the garden of two other properties in the village.

Cllr Budge Wells proposed that Mid Beds District Council allocates £330,000 immediately for works to be carried out, which was agreed by the executive committee.

A report said: "The ditch and the pipework through the garden are all privately owned and are the responsibility of the owners of the land through which they flow.

"The piping of the ditch was carried out about 30 years ago, probably without the necessary consents, although it would be difficult to prove after such a long length of time. There is no legal obligation on the owners to upgrade the pipework."

The scheme will involve creating a flood storage pond in the fields behind the properties – subject to all landowners concerned, and upgrading a piped ditch through the gardens of the properties affected.