Farmers who have to travel two miles out of their way to get to their homes because of a flooded road say they are fed-up of nothing being done.

Their access only road, which some may mistake for a river, has been prone to flooding for decades, but in the past ten years the problem has got a lot worse. The pool stretches 150 yards along the lane and farmers living there say the road hasn't dried up in more than 18 months due to bad weather and poor drainage.

The 'raod liable to flooding' signs at either end of the lane – which runs between Liskeard and Trewidland – appeared to be a slight understatement on Wednesday, when a Cornish Times photographer and I went to meet farmers in the area to view what I thought was going to be no more than a big puddle.

Instead I found that delivery vans often have to be re-directed and drive around a meandering two or three-mile detour to reach the other side of the flooded stretch of road.

The flood has been around for so long that it has been named 'Polmenna Puddle' by local farmers, who say they have had enough.

'Five years ago the council agreed they would pipe down through the two fields,' said Malcolm Coumbe, who has owned Housey Farm for 30 years.

'They said they would do it but then we heard no more from them. In the last five to ten years the water has started to wash away the hedgerow and we are concerned the hedge will collapse.'

John Lawrie owns Rosenun Farm with his wife Sue and says he is getting fed-up of the county council saying it can't afford to do the remedial work.

'We have to cut our hedges – if we don't, and the council asks us why we haven't, we can't say it is because we can't afford it,' he said. 'We seem to be at the back of a queue and we never get to the front of that queue.'

About ten years ago the county council spent thousands of pounds raising the road but locals say it has made little difference.

Michael Squire owns Polmenna Farm and has lived there for 15 years. He said: 'It used to drain away in the summer but the silt has built up and it has stayed flooded. Countless vehicles have been stranded and the water gets into the cars, causing thousands of pounds of damage.'

Mr Squire gets motorists driving down to his farm about four or five times a week because they have got stuck taking a short-cut to Trewidland via the flood. He said: 'This road could probably be a contender for one of the worst roads in Britain.'

When I came to see the puddle it was hard to judge how deep the water was because of its brown colour, but one farmer said it often seeped through the door of his Land Rover.

Sue Lawrie said the state of the road was due to neglect from the county council. She aid: 'We are fed-up with going around the puddle and having to redirect delivery people. It's a real pain as we are using other routes that are becoming pitted.'

I was told that people no longer walk along the road, despite it having once been a popular route for walkers. I also heard ducks had recently taken up residence.

'We have to go the long way round to Plymouth and Callington, and that route has no passing places,' said Andrew Arnold, who has owned Ramtor Farm for more than 30 years. 'If I was travelling to St Keyne, I would travel on that road but instead I have to go through the fields.'

The flooded road has become a great inconvenience to the farmers living in the area and, despite complaints being made by the parish council, they feel they are getting nowhere.

Roy Lethbridge, vice chairman of Dobwalls and Trewidland Parish Council, said: 'It has gone on long enough and it is about time something was done. It is going a bridge too far and it is ridiculous.'

'We feel we are bashing our heads against a brick wall as a parish council.'

The Cornish Times contacted Cornwall County Council over the puddle issue but nobody was available for comment.