A FURIOUS Greenock businessman today slammed council bosses after losing a FOURTH vehicle to Inverclyde’s continual flooding misery.

Outraged Charlie Mitchell says he’s seen a staggering £40,000 worth of motors written off over the last seven years due to deluge after deluge.

He laid the blame for the loss of his latest pride and joy — an £11,000 Vauxhall Astra — at the local authority’s door, saying they had failed to clear up piles of autumn leaves.

Charlie, 57, who lives in flood-blighted Cumberland Road in Larkfield, pictured, said: “Work was carried out to the gullies where we live, but that work is just pointless when the council doesn’t bother to clear away all the leaves which have been falling all over the place.

“Because the leaves weren’t removed the water simply couldn’t drain away. It’s an appalling state of affairs for decent hard-working folk who pay council tax.

“The council simply hasn’t done its job properly.” Charlie — who runs his own blacksmith business in Greenock — told the Telegraph that he’s now contemplating legal action against Municipal Buildings chiefs.

He said: “I’m exploring the possibility of raising a claim against the council.

“I paid £11,000 for my 62-plate Astra in March but the insurance company will only pay out on the current book price, which is £8,000.

“It means I’ve lost £3,000 in six months.

“There was so much water that my car was actually floating.” Charlie, who moved back to Greenock from Luton in 2007, lost a Renault Scenic to flooding on 28 October that year — only six months after returning to his home town.

He later saw a Renault Megane and his Ford Transit works van submerged and ruined in just one day, 8 September 2009.

Fed-up Charlie, who lives with his partner Caroline McGachy, 44, and their daughter, Leanne, 16, said: “My insurance premiums just keep getting higher and higher. They’ve gone up by hundreds of pounds.

“I lay the blame for this latest fiasco fairly and squarely at the door of Inverclyde Council.

“The boot of the Astra was like a swimming pool and water just poured from the glove box.

“The water must have been four feet deep.

“Things are getting beyond a joke now.

“Are folk like me supposed to sit up all night now in case we need to move our cars?

“My daughter had to cross through a neighbour’s garden then walk along a wall before jumping down on to a reasonable dry piece of pavement just to get to school.

“All of this could easily have been avoided with a wee bit of forethought.” A council spokesman said: “The torrential rainfall earlier on Tuesday caused pockets of flooding right across the area.

“Council teams have been busy over the last few weeks clearing watercourse grills and gullies on the council network and were immediately dispatched to help alleviate any local issues across this network.

“If any resident has a particular issue they are concerned about locally they should immediately contact the council’s roads service and alert them to the issue.”