Bury Town chairman Russell Ward hopes new discovery puts an end to frustrating flooding issues on Ram Meadow pitch which saw Felixstowe & Walton United game called off

After Monday’s money-spinning derby against Felixstowe & Walton United was lost to the drainage issues at Ram Meadow, Bury Town chairman Russell Ward is hopeful that a long-term resolution has been found.

Sunday afternoon’s downpour led to a section of the pitch being left underwater, far from the first time. And despite attempts to pump it out, it failed the referee’s morning pitch inspection.

Ward had tweeted his frustration at landlords West Suffolk Council for not fixing the issues but revealed to SuffolkNews he has subsequently been able to work with the authority to identify what they hope is a previously unknown cause.

“The problem is there is a storm-drain which is designed to take surface water from the (Ram Meadow public) car park which we have found in our car park (behind the clubhouse),” he said.

“We did not know what it was as it was just a man-hole cover.

"It has become blocked up but the council are now on the case and hopefully it will be sorted by the weekend.”

He explained his critical tweet against West Suffolk Council by saying: "It (flooding) happened a few months ago and they (council workers) came down and made sure all the gulleys in the car park were clear.

"But it was a result of something none of us had known about.

"Over the years it has apparently silted up and got blocked and that is what has caused the problem.

"To be fair they are now aware of it and are sending people down to sort it out."

In the wake of Monday's postponement news there had been criticism on social media of Bury's apparent decision to turn down the offer from Felixstowe of reversing the fixtures between the pair.

Ward said: "We just didn't think it was feasible at such short notice.

"I don't think the league would have accepted it."

He added: "If they had got to play their game at Maldon (& Tiptree on New Year's Day) I don't think they would have been putting that pressure on us.

"And the way it was put out on social media was not very good."

Bury will head to a 14th-placed Tilbury side tomorrow (3pm) in 11th themselves and five points from the top five with two games in hand on fifth-placed Hashtag United.

Manager Ben Chenery, who felt Saturday's 4-1 victory at AFC Sudbury replied to their critics, will hope to have Olly Hughes, Ryan Stafford and Zak Bradshaw back from contracting Covid.

Cemal Ramadan, Jake Chambers Shaw and captain Ollie Fenn, meanwhile, all picked up injuries in the AFC Sudbury match.