Flood defences costing £10m installed

Improved flood defences have been installed by the River Severn

New flood defences, costing about £10m, have been installed in Bewdley, Worcestershire.

The defences stretch for 300m at Beales Corner, an area repeatedly hit by significant flooding over recent years. They are expected to protect about 50 properties.

The flood defence system, from Pleasant Harbour House to Millside Court, includes flood walls, gates and demountable barriers. They were officially unveiled at a ceremony on Friday.

The Environment Agency said homes and businesses would be better protected for decades to come.

When flooding is predicted, the agency will close flood gates and put up the demountable barriers to prevent flood water from the River Severn entering the area.

Key roads in the town would now be dry at times of flood, the Environment Agency added.

Before this project, temporary barriers consisting of 2,000 individual parts took up to 12 hours to fully install.

On top of the flood wall there are glass panels, which provide protection from the river, while also maintaining the view.

Glass panels are mounted on top of the flood wall

This work follows a multimillion-pound project in the area in 2006.

Demountable barriers were introduced to Severnside, on the west bank of the Severn, to reduce flood risk to 300 homes and businesses.

These barriers have since been put up 29 times and prevented millions of pounds of flood damage, the Environment Agency said.

At the same time, Beales Corner trialled temporary barriers, it added, but protection was limited due to their height, resulting in the need for the major flood risk management scheme now in place.

A new flood wall was photographed during construction

Beales Corner has a history of flooding, most recently in 2020, 2021 and 2022, affectinghomes and businesses.

After the flooding in 2020, funding was made available by the government for communities affected.

Chris Rogers, Wyre Forest District Council's cabinet member for housing, health and wellbeing with responsibility for water management, said it was "fantastic to see this important scheme completed".

He added: "We are grateful to local businesses and residents for their understanding during the disruption to traffic flows during the works."

Friday's ceremony marked operational completion of the scheme, with some minor landscaping work continuing afterwards.