Residents in Kitchener’s Court in Trowbridge, flooded out by sewage, must have found Cllr Jonathon Seed’s defence of the cuts his party have imposed and his assertion that frontline services have been maintained as laughable as I did especially as he is Cabinet member for flooding.

I predicted we would see more flooding because of the lack of gully maintenance, something I and many who wrote or emailed me see as a frontline service that has seemingly been discarded.

It grieves me that he and indeed all Jane Scott’s party think that this is not a frontline task – it certainly used to be.

The editor’s use of quotation marks around the “precautionary” measures taken by the council were right because in my dictionary precautionary means taking measures in advance of an unpleasant potential outcome – the cuts have forced officers to be reactive not proactive and this is a prime example.

Mr Seed might try the argument that one cannot predict flash floods, but haven’t we all been inundated with such events over recent years; all the more reason to take real precautionary measures.

Take a trip between Bradford on Avon and Winsley, a road that has flooded a number of times and look at the gulley covers. Almost all sprout weeds and grass and no attempt has been made to do anything about this in months.

It was only my mentioning the same problem between Bradford on Avon and Trowbridge to a Balfour Beatty employee that appeared to spur them into clearing the gullies.

There has been a sign here on Trowbridge Road, put up months ago, about intended gully cleaning.

Whether this ever happened on the dates that have, in the last few weeks, mysteriously been taped over, no one seems to know. The sign remains stubbornly in place as if this work is intended to go ahead when it is crystal clear it will not.

To help prevent and alleviate the distress of many other Wiltshire residents, Mr Seed should start to fulfil his portfolio role and a programme of regular gully maintenance across the county, not just concentrating on main roads, but all estate roads as well.

If he tries to imply these events are not that frequent, try telling that to those who have to go to their insurers more and more regularly to get their lives back in order when the worst excesses of the flooding would have been prevented if he and his party had taken proper precautionary measures.

I had a letter from a Bradford on Avon resident to say he had pointed out blocked drains near his home to the council as he feared a similar flooding problem – his requests for action were ignored and the position, months after he complained is exactly the same today.

Mr Seed proclaimed how administration costs have been reduced, but when Jeff Osborne warns that as a councillor even he cannot get responses to his letters because the staffing at County Hall has been decimated, is it little wonder that we as residents fighting for action on frontline services get nowhere when we either write or use the online request system that is immediately acknowledged, but not acted upon?

Our Bradford on Avon Councillors Ian Thorn and Rosemary Brown must, as Liberal Democrats, think they are knocking their heads against a brick wall when it comes to getting even the simplest frontline services maintained.

John Baxter, Deverell Close, Bradford on Avon.