Hillside dams built to protect town from floods

The dams aim to slow the flow of water towards the town

Wooden barriers have been built on hillsides near a Leicestershire town to try to protect it from flooding.

So-called "leaky dams" have been placed close to brooks near Loughborough to try to slow down water running down towards the town when it rains heavily.

The dams are among more than 150 flooding prevention measures put in place by the Trent Rivers Trust charity in the Outwoods and Beacon Hill parks.

Brushwood barriers, ponds and wetlands have also been created to try to intercept and store water running off the Wood Brook, which the trust said posed a significant flooding risk to lower-lying homes and businesses.

Dan Scott said the measures would aid existing flood defences in the lower-lying town

Dr Dan Scott, the trust's senior catchment restoration officer, said: "We are working on a natural flood management project upstream of Loughborough.

"There are various measures designed to push water, falling during high rainfall periods, into the wider woodland.

"This will lower what we call the flood peak.

"The water will still reach Loughborough but not at the speed we would normally expect."

He said slowing the flow would give people in the town more time to prepare for flooding and help its existing flood defences cope with the volume of water.

'Degree of control'

Trust volunteers are working on the scheme.

Ruth Needham, the charity's head of landscapes and partnerships, said: "We would like to thank the volunteers for supporting this approach and for spending hundreds of hours of their time to make this work possible.

"By using natural materials, such as brushwood from the surrounding woodlands, or by creating wetlands, we're introducing interventions that will, after some time, seamlessly blend into the landscape.

"By focusing on where a watercourse starts – essentially where rain falls - we're working in an area where there's still a degree of control."