Residents of Partridge Road are submitting a petition to the council demanding action over water pouring under their houses, ruining gardens and possibly damaging the foundations of their houses.

Council environment and community protection director, Neil Graham, said: 'There is a natural flood bowl at Patridge Road. Rain coming over the hill naturally gathers there. We are keen to do something about it, but I don"t have the power to put drainage into private houses.' Nine owner-occupiers and three tenants in Partridge Road are affected. They say the council has been promising for several months to give them a report into the problem, but haven"t done so.

Mr Graham said he planned to hold a meeting with the residents at the end of this month or in the second week of September.

He said: 'We will be expecting owners to contribute to the cost of solving the problem.' He declined to give figures, but said it was "a substantial cost".

Some residents believe it could be about £17,000 each to repair drains. They believe water comes from a burst in the Grieve Road/Finch Road area, but Mr Graham said there was "no leak".

Neither Inverclyde Council nor Scottish Water have been able to solve the problem. Scottish Water say it is the council"s responsibility.

Mr Graham said: 'There are no easy answers to this major problem.' Council tenant Robert Turner, 35, of 7 Partridge Road, said: 'I drew up the petition because we can"t get action. The grass is soggy even on dry days.' A council letter, written in 1997, said the water could be coming down from Grieve Road, Lyle Road and even Greenock Golf Course, and recommended "necessary" work to stop it. This was never done.

A recent council report has revealed it could cost £100,000 to fix the problem, and that spending £20,000 on repairing water pipes would be only a temporary solution.