Drainage services across Gloucestershire, from Tetbury to Tewkesbury
Gloucestershire starts about two hours' drive from our engineers on the Dorset coast. The prices stay put, and we're straight about the wait.
- Miles measured to eleven towns
- Four sewer companies, one plain answer
- Surveys booked on a day you choose
Blocked drains in Gloucestershire are a long way from home for us. Our engineers are based in Bournemouth, Poole and Christchurch. Lechlade and Tetbury, the closest towns, are about 75 road miles away, and Tewkesbury about 110. We still take work across the county, and you get a real arrival time when you call instead of a set window.
We have no office, depot or engineer anywhere in the county. My Local Drainage is part of the OneFlow Drainage group, and whoever drives up is one of the engineers from OneFlow Drainage.
Blocked drains in Gloucestershire: miles from the south coast
| Town | Postcode | Nearest base | Road miles | What you'll get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lechlade-on-Thames | GL7 | Christchurch | About 75 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Tetbury | GL8 | Christchurch | About 75 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Wotton-under-Edge | GL12 | Poole | About 78 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Cirencester | GL7 | Christchurch | About 80 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Dursley | GL11 | Poole | About 85 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Stroud | GL5, GL6 | Poole | About 86 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Cheltenham | GL50 to GL53 | Christchurch | About 96 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Stow-on-the-Wold | GL54 | Christchurch | About 98 | A real arrival time when you call |
| Gloucester | GL1 to GL4 | Christchurch | About 102 | A real arrival time when you call; best for booked work |
| Cinderford | GL14 | Poole | About 106 | A real arrival time when you call; a Forest of Dean firm is likely quicker in a crisis |
| Tewkesbury | GL20 | Christchurch | About 110 | A real arrival time when you call |
A route planner found these shortest routes from our nearest base town. On empty roads Cirencester is close to two hours away, and Gloucester, Tewkesbury and Cinderford take more than two. For sewage rising through a floor, a firm in the county will usually reach you first, and we'll say so.
Gloucestershire towns we travel to
- Gloucester: GL1 to GL4, from Kingsholm to Abbeymead and Brockworth.
- Cheltenham: GL50 to GL53, including Montpellier, Prestbury and Charlton Kings.
- Stroud and Stonehouse: GL5, GL6 and GL10, around the Five Valleys.
- Tewkesbury: GL20, where the Avon flows into the Severn.
- Cirencester and Lechlade: GL7, the Thames side of the Cotswolds.
- Tetbury and Wotton-under-Edge: GL8 and GL12, on the southern Cotswold edge.
- Dursley and Cam: GL11.
- Cinderford, Coleford and Lydney: GL14, GL16 and GL15, in the Forest of Dean.
- Stow-on-the-Wold, Bourton and Moreton-in-Marsh: GL54 and GL56, the north Cotswolds.
Severn Trent, Thames Water and two more: who owns your sewer
Gloucestershire County Council lists four companies running public sewers here. Severn Trent has most of the county: we've checked that Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stroud, Tewkesbury, Dursley and Cinderford are on its network. Thames Water owns the sewage works at Cirencester, on the Churn, a Thames tributary. Wessex Water and Welsh Water serve smaller parts. Your sewerage bill names yours.
- Severn Trent: report a sewer blockage or call 0800 783 4444, 24 hours a day.
- Thames Water: use its blockages page or call 0800 316 9800.
- Wessex Water and Welsh Water: numbers are on the county council's flooding and drainage page.
All four follow the October 2011 rules. A pipe shared with neighbours, and your own pipe beyond your boundary, is theirs to clear free. The section inside your boundary serving your home alone is yours, and that's what we unblock. See who is responsible for blocked drains for the grey areas.
Road gullies: Gloucestershire County Council and the districts
The county council looks after nearly 130,000 gullies and kerb weirs, emptying every gully at least once a year, some twice, to a published schedule. Report a blocked one on FixMyStreet Gloucestershire, or ring 08000 514 514 if a road is flooding now. The council's rule of thumb: water on the road should clear within about an hour of a cloudburst ending. If it hasn't, report the gully.
The six district councils have a separate power: they can serve notice on a landowner to clear a blocked stream or ditch.
River floods, Cotswold stone and Victorian pipes
- The Severn and 2007. In July 2007 Gloucestershire had some of the worst flooding in recorded British history. Tewkesbury was cut off by road, and floodwater at Severn Trent's Mythe water works left Gloucester without piped water for 17 days. Floods leave silt in gullies and pipes, so if a drain stays sluggish after the water goes, a CCTV drain survey from £150 shows what's lodged there.
- Old pipes in the towns. Severn Trent's £25 million Stroud scheme laid four miles of larger pipe, much of it replacing old Victorian sewers, and finished the town centre in 2025. In Cheltenham's Post Office Lane, fat in the sewer set so hard it had to be dug out. Regency and Victorian terraces often share a drain run, which usually makes it the water company's to clear.
- Stone cottages and mining terraces. Cirencester's older houses are Cotswold stone, on oolitic limestone, and Cinderford grew in the 1800s as a coal and iron town of long terraced rows. Drains that old are often clay and can run under floors. A camera survey maps them before anyone digs, and drain repairs are priced from what it shows.
One price list from Lechlade to the Forest of Dean
The drive is our cost. Gloucestershire jobs are charged from the same price list as jobs in Bournemouth: unblocking from £80, with a fixed price agreed before any work starts. No call-out fee. The same price day, night, weekends and bank holidays. All prices include VAT. Planned work, such as a homebuyer drain survey from £195, suits the distance far better than a midnight emergency.
Gloucestershire drainage FAQs
Can you get to Cheltenham or Gloucester quickly?
Not quickly, no. Cheltenham is about 96 road miles from Christchurch and Gloucester about 102, each more than two hours of driving on clear roads. You get a real arrival time when you call. For an overflowing drain right now, a Gloucestershire firm will usually be faster, and we'll tell you so. For surveys and planned repairs, the distance matters far less.
Is Severn Trent responsible for my blocked drain?
Only for the shared part. When the blockage sits in a sewer serving more than one property, or in your pipe beyond your boundary, Severn Trent clears it free: call 0800 783 4444 at any hour. If only your home is affected and the problem is inside your boundary, the pipe is yours. Around Cirencester, check your bill first, because Thames Water runs the sewage works there.
When will the council clean the gully in my road?
Gloucestershire County Council empties every gully at least once a year and publishes a gully emptying schedule listing the planned months. If yours is blocked before its turn, report it on FixMyStreet Gloucestershire. If the road is flooding now, ring 08000 514 514.
My drains have been slow since the floods near Tewkesbury. What now?
Give it a few days after the water has gone. If your neighbours' drains are slow too, the public sewer may be struggling, so call Severn Trent on 0800 783 4444. If it's only your home, silt may have settled in your own pipe. A camera survey from £150 shows whether it needs jetting or whether a joint has moved.
Are drains in old Cotswold cottages different?
Often, yes. Many stone cottages are older than mains drainage, so their drains were added later, sometimes under a floor or joined to next door's before reaching the sewer. A pipe shared like that is usually the water company's now. If you're buying, a homebuyer drain survey from £195 shows the route and condition before you commit.
Drain trouble in Gloucestershire?
Ring 0800 246 5347 or send your postcode through the form. You'll hear the price, and whether a firm nearer to you makes more sense, before anyone sets off.