OWNERS of flood-damaged homes in Scorrier blame developers of the nearby Cornwall Biopark for the "river" of water, mud and rubble which destroyed a driveway, overflowed septic tanks and flooded the ground floor of one couple's house.
A torrent of water was released from the 35-acre site after an earth mound, which acted as a dam, burst its banks during heavy rains last week.
Wendy Bowley was woken at 3am last Monday to find her house flooded by 1ft of water and rubble.
"It is not only rubble but it was the volume of water coming from the site.
"It was just a river coming down of this mud and rubbish. It was surreal."
Reuben Long, who lives on Sawmills Lane, said his garage was flooded as a result of "neglect" by the developers.
He said: "Since they bulldozed the hedges and trees on the site there is nothing to hold the water.
"They built a dam to hold acres of water. It's not enough to hold that amount of water from that acreage.
"It was neglect from people not knowing what they are doing.
"The dam burst its banks and away it came. And we are the ones who suffered. It was frightening."
Russell Dodge, director of the developer and owner of the site, Hallenbeagle Estates, said the earth mound – or 'bund' – was put in place in accordance with planning regulations in advance of landscaping work.
"If the bund had not been there the water would have trickled off the site, or at least a lot slower than it did. As it was the water went down the lane in a torrent," said Mr Dodge.
He offered his sympathies to local residents, saying: "This incident was extremely unfortunate and I don't think there was anything we could have done about it."
Ms Bowley's partner, John Carpenter, has since built a 1m-high wall to prevent future flooding, despite having a pacemaker fitted two weeks ago.
The couple are currently living upstairs as the whole ground floor is ruined.
Councillor Mark Kaczmarek met Cormac area manager, Viv Bidgood, and Sawmills Lane residents after the flood. Mr Bibgood said the road would be resurfaced and the homeowner's driveway would be repaired.
See a video of the flooding at www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcWNwXzWXMI
