A DISABLED pensioner says he was left stranded in a subway after water wrecked his mobility scooter.
Steve Higgs, of Smallfield Road, Horley, got stuck in what he describes as "sewage water" while travelling through the town's underpass on April 2.
Mr Higgs, 70, said: "I was going round the town to get my prescription for my medication and I went on the electric buggy, and got to the subway. Had it been raining I would never have attempted it because it always floods, but it was dry with no notices to say it was anything other than ok.
"I went down the slope, turned the bend at the bottom and I was in sewage water. I had to paddle my way out, it was horrible."
He was then helped home by a passer-by.
Mr Higgs, who is registered disabled, added: "It [the mobility scooter] just packed up and died.
"It is beyond repair, it's too costly to do it."
As previously reported in the Mirror, the subway, which connects High Street and Station Road, has been plagued with flooding issues for years.
Alan Tracey, of Rickwood, Horley, said: "It is a bit of a joke; the subway is a nuisance for everybody, it keeps being flooded.
"Horley is a town with two hearts; the railway line runs through it and you have got the east side and the west side and so we always either use the subway or the footbridge."
A spokesman for Network Rail, which owns the subway, said: "The underpass was flooded on April 2. The incident may have occurred before our maintenance team were able to deal with the flooding.
"With the unprecedented wet weather of recent months, it has made it more challenging to make sure that our assets and structures, many which were built 175 years ago, remain resilient to weather-related disruption."
He added: "The pump used to remove water from the underpass at Horley station is under repair and has to be manually operated until a replacement part is delivered. This is currently on order and will be installed on delivery.
"In the meantime, if there is a risk of flooding due to heavy rainfall, our engineers have made arrangements for the pump to be manned and manually operated. Once repaired, the pump will automatically start to pump water when there is a risk of flooding."
