Business owners say that trade is suffering as dirty water floods into their shops whenever it rains.

Traders along Hermitage Road, in South Tottenham, claim that drainage systems have not been working, leaving huge puddles of water on the street outside.

The supermarket, takeaway, butchers shop and dry cleaners along the road are all forced to keep their doors closed, as they claim that the water splashes inside when a car passes.

Ali Yazjan, of Family Dry Cleaners in Hermitage Road, said: “Just too much water comes up into our shop, and no one wants to pass it when it rains.

“We have to keep the door closed or the water comes flooding insides whenever a car passes, and our customers and the clothes end up soaking.

“Nobody wants to stand inside a shop and walking out soaking wet.

“It’s only been since they repaired the road, and something went wrong so now water isn’t flowing into the drain properly.”

M Kaya, of Hot Bird Takeaway, added: “It has really affected our trade because every day we have to pay for cleaning the windows, and we are always very worried that the water will get to our food.

“All the water is so dirty that no one wants to be in here when it happens.

“Whenever we see even a bit of rain we start to worry.”

To counter the problem, the traders have now begun storing shopping trolleys outside the butchers Golden Meat, which they put around the water on the road to prevent cars from driving through it.

Jim Cassins, of Oakdale Road, said: “It is very unhygienic, especially with it potentially affecting food like the fresh meat in the butchers.

“I have been soaked from head to toe while standing inside the butchers before, it’s horrible.

“The water just isn’t running into the drains properly since the resurfacing, and I made my first complaint to the council on October 9 last year and have been complaining several times since but still nothing has been done about it.”

A Haringey Council spokesperson said: “We have arranged for an engineer to visit this site to look at what can be done to resolve this problem and we will continue to monitor it during periods of heavy rainfall.”