TWO young children from Stretford can no longer play in their back garden due to flooding caused by water on council land.

Lincoln, four, and Kavan, two, have not been in their garden since August last year because their mum, Julia, is concerned about their safety.

The family have lived in Newcroft Crescent for three years and throughout that time the bottom of the garden has been flooded.

When the Gidleys bought the house, the back garden was overgrown and it wasn't until they cleared the rubbish that they discovered the water.

Heavy rain has caused the council playing fields at the back of the house to collect water and this has created a stream.

The water, which has flooded under Julia's fence, is more than a foot deep and Julia now has water plants growing and tadpoles swimming in the garden because the water has been there for so long.

Julia said: "I bought this house because of the garden so the children could play outside safely. I can't even think about letting them out because it's just too dangerous."

Julia first complained to Trafford Council two and a half years ago and she has spoken to more than 30 people in an attempt to get the problem sorted.

Many of Julia's neighbours have also complained about the excess water in their gardens.

Julia said: "One of my neighbours complained to the Council and he was told that they were looking into the possibility of draining the land or diverting the flow of the stream.

"This is where the problem lies because there shouldn't even be a stream in the first place."

Lester Cordwell, head of construction services at the Council, said: "We are sorry Mrs Gidley feels there has been a delay on this. The difficulty is that it is not clear what the source of the flooding is.

"We know that there is a very high water table in the area and in fact both the Council's land and this resident's garden suffer from flooding.

"We have however recently carried out a detailed survey of the land and Council drainage engineers are drawing up proposals which we hope will reduce the nuisance for all of us."

Julia is extremely concerned not only for her children's safety but also for other people who use the garden.

She said: "There was an accident last year when the window cleaner fell off his ladders into a big pool of water. Fortunately he wasn't knocked out otherwise the situation could have been a lot worse.

"This needs to be sorted out before something even more serious happens."