Jarrow Cemetery flooding leaves graves submerged and footpath under two feet of water

Sustained downpours have left a number of graves at Jarrow Cemetery completely covered by water.

A section of footpath outside the cemetery’s south perimeter wall was also left beneath a 60-metre puddle that was around two feet at its deepest.

South Tyneside Council and Northumbrian Water have been at the scene dealing with the flooding. It is not yet known if it has been caused by the weather alone, or if there was also an issue with drainage systems in the area.

The cemetery and footpath are a popular area for dog walkers, who were shocked to see what had happened.

A cyclist who made an ill-advised attempt to plough through the flooding ended up leaving his bike under water until it could be retrieved with a rope.

An abandoned shopping trolley was also seen abandoned in the giant puddle.

Northumbrian Water is monitoring the situation and attempting to resolve it as soon as possible. An apology as been issued, particularly to those who are unable to tend to the graves of loved ones due to the flooding.

A spokesperson for the company said: “We have been working on-site and monitoring the drainage systems in Jarrow Cemetery after being made aware of some flooding following some bad weather in late January.

“We completely understand that this will be upsetting for visitors and relatives, and we deeply apologise for any distress caused by this issue.

“We have been working closely with South Tyneside Council to try and resolve this since it’s happened, but unfortunately, due to the current rainfall, we are unable to carry out CCTV surveys inside the pipe to determine the exact cause of the issue.

“We will carry these surveys out as soon as we possibly can.

“We have returned some flows to the drains and this temporary work has helped to alleviate the standing water.

“We will continue to monitor this throughout the week and are looking at what we can do to minimise the risk of this happening again.”

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