Worcestershire County Council has had almost 40,000 reports of blocked drains over the last decade but has denied they are adding to flooding issues in the city.
County residents have reported 37,152 blocked drains since 2013, one of the highest in the country according to data collected through Freedom of Information Requests by Round Our Way.
A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council said: “The reported figure of 37,152 drainage enquiries over 11 years represents just 3% of our 116,000 drainage assets annually and includes all types of drainage issues, such as flooding reports.
“Often, flooding arises when external systems like Severn Trent Water sewers, watercourses, and ditches reach capacity, causing water to back up onto roads – not due to our blocked gullies or drains.
“Importantly, this figure does not account for duplicate reports of the same issue, further demonstrating that our drainage systems are performing effectively across our extensive Worcestershire network.”
The data collected by Round Our Way are estimates as the figures include false/inaccurate reports.
Nottinghamshire had the most blocked drain reports with 42,240 but Worcestershire ranked fifth worst in the country behind Gloucestershire.
Sofie Jenkinson, co-director of Round Our Way, said: “People up and down the country are having to deal with the consequences of flooding in their homes, their businesses and important local services like GP surgeries due to increased rain we are seeing in the UK as a consequence of climate change.
“We need to see increased preparedness across the UK for extreme weather events like Storm Bert, including crucial maintenance of the drain network but we also need urgent action to tackle the causes of increased heavy rain, which will continue to wreak havoc in our communities.
“Even if the drain network was pristine, it would still struggle to cope with the impacts of heavier rain we are now seeing.”
More than one million reports of blocked drains have been reported to councils since 2013.