Residents worried about repeat of autumn floods

Andrew and Judy Cox's property flooded during Storm Bert last year

People living near the River Frome say they are concerned about further flooding this autumn, after Storm Bert caused chaos in November 2024.

Dozens of Yate and Chipping Sodbury residents attended a public meeting on Monday evening to find out about work that has taken place to prevent further flooding.

Last November, during Storm Bert, some homes in the area near Bristol flooded for the first time.

Andrew Cox, from Yate, said: "Our garden was flooded with water, it was like a river coming down the path. It was about two inches away from coming into our lounge."

Nigel Hurly said he is concerned about house insurance prices going up

"We went into panic mode, took the TV and the dog upstairs for safety," Mr Cox added.

"I'm not hopeful it's going to improve. I've just got to hope that the weather improves."

His wife Judy Cox added: "We've lived in this property for 47 years and never known anything as bad as this flooding."

Nigel Hurly who lives in Chipping Sodbury near the river, said he is upset that the house insurance has gone up since the flooding.

"Nobody is very happy about it. This whole area with the River Frome is under threat to a certain extent," he added.

Mr Hurly was among residents attending at the public meeting on Monday, which saw South Gloucestershire Council, Network Rail, the Enviornment Agency and Wessex Water speak to locals about their flooding concerns.

George Barratt, project manager at Network Rail, said its crews had lifted the tracks by 25cm near the river to allow trains to keep running during storms.

"Mother nature is mother nature and sometimes you get rainfall that's hard to manage, but we are better prepared this year," Mr Barratt said.

Chris Willmore said climate change is increasing the likelihood of floods

Chris Willmore, a South Gloucestershire councillor and volunteer flood warden, said the flooding risks in the area are getting worse "because there are more houses and because of climate change".

"I see the councillors having a really important role as a go-between. We need all the agencies to be working together," she added.