Report drains and spillage issues

Help and advice on the maintenance of road gullies in the public roads network.

For detailed information on road gullies, their maintenance and how to report issues, explore the pages in this section. You can also watch our short video below for an in-depth look at road gullies.

Drainage - help and advice

Surface water is normally drained off roads by gullies and grips.

Gullies are usually connected by pipe work to a carrier drain which carries the water to an outfall or soakaway where the water disperses. Sometimes in urban areas, the gullies will be connected to the foul sewer, which is maintained by Scottish Water.

In rural areas, drainage is often by grips (or offsets) which discharge the water into ditches or onto the surrounding ground.

We cannot guarantee to keep the road network free from puddles. The effects of age, settlement or traffic can cause depressions to form in the road surface, preventing the water from running off. Exceptional rainfall, runoff from adjacent land, and rising river levels can cause roads to flood even when the drainage is in good working order.

Gully cleaning and maintenance

We regularly clean out carriageway gullies that collect the water from the road, and arrange special visits by gully tankers to respond to sudden blockages. Gullies are cleaned out Biennial, with reactive cleansing more often in problem (Flood Risk) areas.

Road drainage problems are identified by the regular inspections of the network, by calls to Clarence, or as a result of reports from the public, and appropriate action is taken to deal with the problems that are identified. Sometimes flooding is caused by burst water mains, and Scottish Water is responsible for repairing these.

View our interactive map to check the gullies we maintain and when they were last cleansed. When cleansing the gullies, we also inspect them for damage, arranging repairs as necessary.

What are we responsible for?

We are responsible for maintenance of gullies and drainage on public, adopted roads.

We are not responsible for maintenance of gullies and drainage on trunk roads.

Faults on trunk roads in the Perth and Kinross area can be reported to the following organisations:

Bear Scotland - A9 north covering:
- A9 Perth to Drumochter
- A85 Perth to St Fillans
- Streets on the A85
  - Perth
    - Crieff Road (from the roundabout connecting Newhouse Road, Perth westwards)
  - Methven
    - Main Street
  - Crieff
    - Perth Road
    - High Street
    - East High Street
    - West High Street
    - Comrie Street
    - Comrie Road
  - Comrie
    - Drummond Street
    - Dunira Street
    - Burrell Street
Amey - A9 South covering:
- Broxden and Inveralmond roundabout
- Friarton Bridge
- A9 Perth to Dunblane
- A90 Perth to Dundee
- M90 Perth to Edinburgh

Gully cleansing programme

We are responsible for over 40,000 gullies, all of which are cleaned out over a 2-year period.

6 of the 12 Council Wards will be cleaned out per year.

We aim to clean out the entire A Class road network annually.

Areas of high importance relating to flood schemes / recorded as high flood risk are to be cleaned out twice a year.

View our interactive schedule map to confirm what route a gully is in.

Gully route	6 monthly	2025/26	2026/27	2027/28	2028/29
Flood sites	Y
A Class Roads		Y	Y	Y	Y
Ward 1 - Carse of Gowrie			Y		Y
Ward 2 - Strathmore		Y		Y
Ward 3 - Blairgowrie and Glens			Y		Y
Ward 4 - Highland		Y		Y
Ward 5 - Strathtay			Y		Y
Ward 6 - Strathearn			Y		Y
Ward 7 - Strathallan		Y		Y
Ward 8 - Kinross-shire		Y		Y
Ward 9 - Almond and Earn			Y		Y
Ward 10 - Perth South			Y		Y
Ward 11 - Perth North		Y		Y
Ward 12 - Perth Central		Y		Y

Gully programme performance report

View our gully programme performance report to monitor our programme status for the current financial year (which runs 1^st April to 31^st March). The report statistics will be updated at the start of each month, with the first update available the beginning of May.