ENGINEERS have been asked to assess whether a drain has collapsed under Victoria Square on Portland after the area flooded.

A 10 by 15 feet-wide puddle of water appeared in the square yesterday, following hours of heavy rainfall.

Weymouth and Portland Borough Council workers called for an engineers' inspection yesterday after going to clear the drain with rods.

There were concerns that a drain may have collapsed.

A council spokesman said its engineers would not conduct an investigation until hearing detailed results from one conducted by Wessex Water employees last week.

A Wessex Water spokesman said: "The flooding is not being caused by our surface water sewer.

"The sewer is flowing, meaning there is no blockage or collapse in the public sewer.

"The problem appears to be blocked road gullies which are the responsibility of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council."

A borough council spokesman confirmed workers were going to the area again today with a gully cleaner to clean the drains.

She added that further investigations would not be carried out until borough engineers had consulted Wessex Water officials.

The co-owner of the Masons and Mariners pub in Victoria Square, Brett Charlton, said that he has been calling on the borough council for action on the flooding problem for years.

Mr Charlton, 35, said: "It's been going on for three years at least and it doesn't surprise me that the drain may have collapsed.

"The borough council used to come down and clean it out.

"The last time I spoke to their highways department, I was told it had sold its gully cleaning machine to Dorset County Council.

"I was told that they now have to rely on Dorset County Council coming down and doing it for them.

"When you pay your council tax you begin to think: well, what am I paying it for?' He added: "I'm fed up with phoning the council and getting no joy. I'm not blaming the people I'm talking to.

"I blame the council for selling their machine in the first place."

A borough council spokes-man said highways department engineers would conduct a full and thorough' investigation of the drain after first receiving a report from Wessex Water's engineers.

The spokesman also confirmed that the council used to own a gully cleaner five years ago but that it now belongs to Dorset Works Organisation (DWO), the county council's works contractor.

She added that the machine was given to the county council as part of previous borough budget cuts.

A spokesman for Dorset County Council said: "The DWO does various bits of highways work for the borough council, including gully cleaning.

"Weymouth and Portland Borough Council draws up the schedule for work and then contract us to do it for them."