RUSH-hour commuters in Tavistock face another week's mayhem as South West Water workmen struggle to repair a damaged storm water drain.

Evening traffic has been backed up in two directions — beyond Safeway on the Plymouth Road and Callington Road's Lumburn Bends — as traffic is restricted to single-file past the repair works and heavy-duty pumps which are close to the twin roundabout bottleneck by Drake's statue.

Temporary lights were introduced the week before Christmas after the culvert at the bottom of Callington Road failed, flooding local homes.

SWW has been working with West Devon Borough Council to solve the problem, though negotiations over whose problem it actually is continue.

SWW spokesman Stephen Swain said it was a very difficult job — first in finding the culvert and then locating precisely where the problem was.

Repair workers are also having to contend with the large volumes of water that would normally be carried away in the drain.

Local resident Ann Knight said it had been a nightmare.

'The men finished up work on the Wednesday before Christmas and didn't come back until January 5,' she said. 'There's been two and a half weeks with the road up and no one doing anything.'

Mrs Knight said the pumps had been unreliable and they had had to live with the fear of water levels rising when the pumps broke down, as well as the noise and vibration shaking the houses when they were working.

But Mrs Knight praised Tavistock's fire crews who turned out on several occasions to pump away excess water.

'They must have been wet, cold and uncomfortable, but they were very professional and kept us all calm,' she said.

And Mrs Knight said they were particularly grateful to neighbour Michael Hall.

'He took it upon himself to monitor the pumps when there was no one else here,' she said. 'The strain to him and his family must have been considerable considering his wife had given birth to their son a couple of weeks before.'

Mrs Knight said there had been an on-going problem, with a similar flood eight years ago, and with an application for additional housing nearby she was worried the problem could get worse.

'I'm worried. All my capital is tied up in my home and I might not be able to sell it,' she said.