A Thames Water van had to be winched out of a muddy field next to an infamous 'swamp'.

The van was seen stuck in the mud on the green space next to Coate Water roundabout, adjacent to an area of land nicknamed the swamp by residents.

The van was seen stuck on February 1 by a neighbour and had to be winched out.Swindon Advertiser:

The van got stuck right next to a hard-standing area which may have avoided it getting into difficulty.

Local residents have commented on the amount of mess this has caused to the land, which has only added to the issue in the area.

They claim the problems started after the two subways going underneath Queens Drive and Marlborough Road were filled in by Swindon Borough Council.

A piece of land on the other side of Marlborough Road, directly next to the Coate Water Country Park has been described as a "swamp" and "an eye sore".Swindon Advertiser:

Residents have been in disagreement over the issue with many complaining about the current state of the land and other claiming that the decision to fill in the subway was the correct decision.

Two councillors, Chris Watts and Gary Sumner had opposing views on the issue.

Andy Brice, a local resident first raised the issue of the Thames Water van causing damage to the land and said: ”Anyone with half a brain would have seen you couldn’t drive through there.

“I don’t know why he got himself stuck there, he could have driven over the concrete hard standing.

“Maybe they should equip their vehicles with caterpillar tracks.”

There is a pumping station located next to Marlborough Road, which is what Andy suspects the driver of the van was dealing with.Swindon Advertiser:

The same day that the van got stuck and was winched it was also observed that a padlock which was attached to a bollard that stands at the edge of this field, had been broken and appears to have been cut.

The padlock has since been fixed but belonged to Thames Water, it is now being investigated why it was broken.

Thames Water employees were expected to attend the site on Monday, February 12 to review potential damage made to the field from the incident.