A local volunteer, who wishes to remain anonymous, has cleared a culvert in Sully in order to improve drainage before Storm Bella strikes tonight.

This comes after heavy rainfall on 23 December flooded several houses on Conybeare Road and adjoining streets.

Wearing an elf hat and ears, the little helper took it upon himself to help his community following what has been a difficult Christmas for some.

"When we climbed down into the ditch all we could see was mud, stones and plant matter. No sign of a pipe," he said.

"We dug down and found a large rock completely wedged into the opening of a nine inch ceramic pipe covered in mud. The earth upstream in the ditch was shelving down steeply too which wasn't good.

"So we cleared the surrounding to the pipe opening and dug a channel about a foot wide so that the ditch flows on a more shallow slope into the mouth of the pipe," he added.

"Hopefully this will reduce the chance of rubble and earth blocking the pipe again tonight."

The volunteer was critical of the quality of the culvert and implicated the nearby Taylor Wimpey construction site in the severity of flooding the community has endured.

The developers are building 350 homes on the Cog Road plot.

"To be honest, the culvert is a totally amateur affair and I will be asking the council to ensure it gets done professionally so it is protected with a concrete surrounding and a grill to stop large items washing in and blocking it.

"Regarding the Taylor Wimpey site, basically it is a completely unfinished wasteland with no drainage system in place an obvious current problem for surface water run off over a very large area."

Nub News has received reports of residents complaining to the Vale of Glamorgan Council about the culvert before.