A self-employed joiner is questioning why he is paying £3,500 a year in council tax despite being unable to turn right out of his home because of a 100-metre puddle.

Andy Tebbutt lives in Pilgrims Road in Halling near Rochester and says he is fed up with the state of the road outside his house and wants proper drainage put in to solve the issue.

The route is a back road into Upper Halling from the A228 Rochester Road.

It has been subject to long-term problems due to the surrounding landscape of sloping fields and the existing drainage system.

It means cars travelling along it are often swamped with brown water.

When KentOnline visited on Tuesday, March 13, we watched cars drive slowly through the puddle but the water was up to bumper-level.

Andy, who runs A J Tebbutt Joinery on the Medway City Estate and built his own home in the road in the late 1990s, is now calling on Medway Council to raise the level of the road and fix the potholes.

He said: “I have given up getting in contact with the council about it. I am fed up with it as it’s a nightmare.

“It’s not a pothole. It’s at least 100 metres long and takes up the whole road so you can’t avoid it unless you drive all the way around Rochester Road.

“I have worked hard all my life and I don’t mind paying my tax but why should I pay my council tax in full if I can’t turn right out of my home?

“It’s unacceptable for the state of the road to get like this. There has been no maintenance. It’s stuffing people’s cars when they drive through it.

“The only way I can drive through it is with my van but even then I am worried that it’s going to cause it damage as I can see steam coming off my tyres.

“My daughter and wife can’t do that though, as they fear what it’s going to do to their cars.

"It's every winter, as soon as it starts raining the puddle comes. It's been going on for more than four years. It’s getting worse."

Andy wants the road raising and proper drainage to stop the problem for good.

However, it is understood that potential solutions are likely to be financially challenging for the authority at a time when most councils are struggling to balance budgets.

Medway Council says that given it is not a busy road it is likely it would be difficult to justify the significant investment needed and prioritise it over other busier road locations that flood.