A MUM has called for urgent action after her home was flooded for the third time in 10 years.

Michelle Wade-Green, who lives on Circuit Lane in Southcote, described how floodwaters overwhelmed her property within the hour on Friday, January 7.

The mother-of-four said flooding started at midnight and by 1am the whole house was knee-deep in river water. Two other properties on her road were also reportedly flooded by 3am.

She said: “All the children were crying. I have a 22 year old, an 18 year old, a 13 year old, and a six year old, and even the older ones were crying.

“We were all frantically running around gathering the possessions and stuff we couldn’t replace.”

Mrs Wade-Green said that the water dispersed from her home within 24 hours leaving behind an entirely ruined downstairs - plastered with mud, leaves, and an 'awful stench'.

She added: “It just went like nothing had happened. Last time it took two weeks for the water to subside.

“We don’t know why this happened but we’re looking into it. It was almost like someone closed a floodgate.”

Mrs Wade-Green explained that over the course of 10 years her property has flooded on three occasions and she is urgently calling for change.

“The last time this happened it took two months for the water to breach the house, this time it was two hours.”

She claimed the continuous flooding is because the house is surrounded by four drains and that Reading Borough Council has failed to maintain the river banks on Holy Brook.

She said: “The council needs to maintain the river banks of Holy Brook and make sure they are dredging all the fallen trees.

“Also, potentially Thames Water needs to look at removing the drains. Because we have four [nearby], we can’t put in flood defences because they are right outside our house.”

The family are now all staying with relatives while they wait to be moved into temporary accommodation.

“This all plays such an impact on the children,” Mrs Wade-Green said. “One of them is sitting her A Levels this year and no longer has her own space.”

On a Facebook post detailing what had happened to her home, Mrs Wade-Green said: "Unfortunately, so many people are in the same situation all over the country and my heart goes out to them. What makes this difficult is that we’ve lost everything again for the third time.”

Responding the to claims that riverbanks have been left unmaintained in the area, Reading Borough Council officers said work was undertaken after flooding in 2014 in the area to help combat the issue.

A council spokesman said: "The council recognises how difficult it is for any resident who has been affected by the flooding and continues to work hard on behalf of residents to mitigate the impacts as far as it can.

“While works were undertaken by the Environment Agency and Thames Water in the area post 2014, evidence suggests water levels were higher this time around than in 2014 so any mitigation works by partners were overwhelmed."

The spokesperson explained that responsibility for river dredging does not come under the council but sits fully with the Environment Agency,.

They added: "The riverbank is regularly maintained by the council but it is important to note it sits on the flood plain by the Holy Brook and the council can only maintain the riverbanks and not alter them.

“The council will routinely carry out investigations following incidents of this kind and seek Environment Agency funding, if it is available, in order to help reduce impact in the future.”

The Environment Agency and Thames Water has been contacted for further comment.