Council regret at flood deaths

INQUEST INTO TRAGEDY TOLD THAT IT TOOK FATALITIES BEFORE ACTION WAS TAKEN

- By DAVID HUMPHREYS Local Democracy Reporter

A SENIOR Liverpool Council officer said it “regrettably” took the deaths of a couple in their car for the authority to take action over an area which was known to suffer from flooding.

Andy Bithell said a threat to life was not considered where Elaine and Philip Marco died, despite four flooding incidents over three months during the same year.

Mr Bithell, head of highways management, gave evidence on the third day of the inquest into the death of Mr and Mrs Marco in August 2023.

The grandparents died when their Mercedes car became submerged in flash flooding under a railway bridge in a section of Queens Drive.