THIS is all that is left of Patricia and Ron Crane’s garden.

Once their pride and joy, the garden is now a sea of mud as engineers work to try and contain two underground springs.

The despairing couple moved into the house in Nether Court, Halstead, in October 2017.

At that point they had no idea the two springs were there – or how much destruction they would cause.

After suffering flooding in February last year, Mrs Crane, 62, was told the Environment Agency was unable to help.

She contacted Essex County Council, but the council said it does not come under its remit either.

Mrs Crane is a keen gardener, a hobby she inherited from her father who was a ranger.

The great-grandmother of four said: “They’re not prepared to help.

“They said they will pay £6,000 for flood doors but they can’t divert the spring from the house.”

Mr Crane, 79, said: “They just keep fobbing you off, it doesn’t make sense.”

Mr and Mrs Crane have since had to buy dehumidifiers for their home because there is so much moisture.

Mrs Crane said: “We don’t know if it’s coming from under the house, there is always so much moisture in the house and we get that damp smell.

“We’re worried about the foundations.”

Lee Roach and Shaun Bragg, owners of LS Landscape Solutions, began work on the garden for the couple last week and had to employ two more landscape gardeners after finding the second spring.

They dug a 35ft long and 2ft deep trench which was already full of water the following morning.

Mrs Crane said: “My son came and pumped it out to a drain, as it was so near our conservatory. We had to pump it out again in the late afternoon and do the same on Sunday.”

The landscape designers have now put perforated piping underground which is connected to a drainage sink so water can run free.

Mrs Crane added: “LS Solutions has worked so hard to get this right. I could not fault them at all.”

The initial quote for the work was £10,000 which Mr and Mrs Crane’s son Stephen was going to pay for.

But following the discovery of the level of damage, costs are likely to be higher.

An Essex County Council spokesman said: “The property level resilience grant exists purely to support residents with putting measures in place to reduce the risk of internal flooding in order to protect their properties.

“The grant is funded solely by the Environment Agency, not Essex County Council, and remains an option for the resident. The responsibility for addressing the spring itself would fall to the landowner, not Essex County Council.”