Spending the last six years wading through three foot high flood water whenever there is a downpour would be bad enough for most people. But imagine if you finally solved the problem of gushing tides of rain water for only £105 just to be told that a council thinks it can do a much better job for more than £80,000.

Spending the last six years wading through three foot high flood water whenever there is a downpour would be bad enough for most people.

But imagine if you finally solved the problem of gushing tides of rain water for only £105 just to be told that a council thinks it can do a much better job for more than £80,000.

The community of Baconsthorpe, near Holt, was totally fed up seeing torrents of water flooding the roads around the Cooks Pit Corner part of the village every time there was heavy rain in the last six years.

The long wait for a permanent flood drainage system finally led to the parish council building its own £105.75 drainage system which diverts

flood water to a pond in a resident's garden.

Baconsthorpe's new collection of water pipes has already proved its worth after more than 3in of rain fell over the bank holiday weekend and not one report of flooding was received in the previously affected area.

Despite the amazing success of their new system villagers have been stunned to learn that Norfolk County Council is finally going to act and install its own flood drainage apparatus costing at least £80,000.

Richard Youngs, who was parish council chairman when the village installed its own pipes, said: "It just seems scandalous to me that after finally solving the problem ourselves the county council comes along and decides to install their own one at enormous expense to the taxpayer.

"In the past during heavy rains people had to put sand bags out and routinely waded through three feet of water. So far those scenes have not been repeated thanks to a small investment of £105.

"I just think the county council should hold back and wait to see how our system copes every time there is torrential rain."

The county council has helped the village to deal with flood water in the past by sending in tankers to remove excess water and cleaning drainage traps and culverts.

From September council workers will start installing a gully system to divert water away from Cooks Pit Corner and the Street because engineers fear the parish works will not be able to handle large volumes of water

A council spokesman said: "It is brilliant that Baconsthorpe banded together like this. But our engineers have decided this does not really solve the problem and so that is why they are making this major investment in the village."