Somerset Floods: Village submerged after alleged tampering of sluice gate One of the men, Lee Goddard, who lives in Hambridge, Somerset, pleaded guilty in August to contravening land drainage laws when he "interfered" with the sluice. Residents have alleged that he wanted to save his own land from water by diverting it elsewhere. He was investigated as part of a private prosecution brought by the Parrett Internal Drainage Board, along with the second man, who is fighting the allegations. The drainage board, which operates the sluice, states that the men broke by-laws that prohibit people from tampering with its structures. Both men are due to appear at Taunton magistrates" court on Dec 1: Goddard for sentencing and the other man for trial. The file is now being examined by the Crown Prosecution Service. A CPS spokesman confirmed that it had received the papers and was reviewing them, but said no decision had been taken on the case as yet. Goddard admitted "interfering" with Slabgate Sluice in Hambridge, which is about five miles from Thorney, between Dec 20 and 23, 2013. The sluice is made up of two 4.4ft square gates used to control the flow of water from the River Isle to West Moor, which is situated next to Thorney. The gates are opened during the summer to send water to the moor for cattle grazing. By opening them during the wet weather, flood levels on West Moor apparently rose as did levels in the village. Residents have also alleged that padlocks securing the sluice were broken when it was "interfered" with and that the mechanism was filled with screws to prevent it from closing. One local claimed that an engineer had to be called to shut the gate. It is standard procedure for sluices operated by the Parrett Internal Drainage Board to be secured with padlocks and chains. Iain Sturdy, the chief engineer, said the board could not comment on the specifics of the sluice in Hambridge because it remained an ongoing court case. At the height of the floods, hundreds of people throughout Somerset were forced to flee their houses - with January described as the wettest in south-east and southern-central England in 100 years. More than 600 homes and 17,000 acres of farmland were inundated with water and villages were cut off. In Thorney alone, more than a dozen houses were swamped and residents were forced to abandon them. Among them was 99-year-old Neville Temperley, who is still exiled from his ruined home. His son Julian said the house would not be fit for his father's return until next April. Julian Temperley and other residents of Thorney said the village would have flooded to some extent, as it had done in the past, regardless of the opening of the sluice. But they claimed that the opening of the gates made the matter worse. Julian Temperley added: "I believe my father is not in his house today because of the actions of this man in Hambridge." Mr Goddard declined to comment. The Environment Agency also declined to comment because the court case is ongoing.