Despite numerous complaints from residents to highways services, the Department of Infrastructure has yet to carry out any remedial work on a stretch of the Orrisdale Loop Road which is subject to frequent flooding.

Julia Marie Matthews, a resident on the road, has been complaining about the problem for more than a year, to no avail.

She said: ’It’s 44 yards long and it fills every time it rains because there’s a dip in the road. I’m sick to death of informing highways about it. It needs a drain putting in. It’s so deep I need wellington boots to walk through it.’

An official from highways came and took photos of the flooding in January 2019 but no action has been taken.

The Orrisdale Loop Road, to the north of Ramsey, is a minor road but one which provides a vital route for diverting traffic from the main A3 road whenever there is an accident at Rhencullen. It is also scheduled to be used by the Isle of Man National Rally on May 16.

The ’lake’ which forms cannot be seen until the last minute when it’s dark and it’s so deep that two cars have become stuck in it, due to water ingress damaging their electrics. Back in November, a vehicle became stuck in it, with its lights failing, as darkness started to fall.

Mrs Matthews said: ’Since his car was in the middle of the road, the occupant was a ’sitting duck’ for an accident.’

She added that she was alerted to the situation by a number of vehicles having to turn around in the road outside her property and go back the way they had come. She telephoned highways and was told that ’no one was available to deal with the situation’.

She has also complained to her local MHK. She said: ’I have told Alf Cannan this is no longer a nuisance, it is actually a danger.’

The general condition of the road along its whole length, and the number of potholes has also been criticised by other residents in the area.

Mrs Matthews added: ’If our road vehicle licences are not being used for immediate repairs, why do we pay them?’