Lincolnshire farmer's heartbreak as his land floods again

Thousands of acres of fields at the Shortferry farm are underwater

A Lincolnshire farmer has said repeated flooding on his land is driving him out of business.

Thousands of acres of Henry Ward's farm at Shortferry are underwater for the second time in four years after a nearby river bank was breached.

Mr Ward described the situation as "absolutely soul destroying" and said it had cost him thousands of pounds.

He said he was in talks with the Environment Agency about being paid to use his farm as a flood storage area.

Mr Ward said, despite his love of farming, he had to be "pragmatic".

"It's just trying to come up with the right deal I suppose to to make it all work," he said.

"But something has got to be done because at the minute us farmers in this area are just getting used for flood storage for free.

"We're going to go out of business. It's just as simple as that."

Henry Ward said he was in discussions with the Environment Agency about using his land to store flood water

Mr Ward's crops of wheat and oilseed rape are covered with water up to 10ft (3m) deep.

His flock of sheep, including several pregnant ewes, has been moved to safety indoors.

The farm, east of Lincoln, was also inundated in 2019 when the Barlings Eau waterway previously broke its banks.

Mr Ward said years of hard work rebuilding the farm had been washed away.

"Mentally it is so tough because we're just back here again," he said.

"It just seems like when's this going to end."

Mr Ward's land has flooded after a nearby waterway breached its banks

Mr Ward said the flooding was worse than last time and there now had to be wider discussions about finding "a solution here that's a benefit for everyone".

Acres of land and more than 100 properties across Lincolnshire have been flooded in the aftermath of Storm Henk.

A number of flood warnings remain in place in the county, including for the Low Barlings and Shortferry areas.

No significant further rainfall is forecast, however the Environment Agency said it expected river levels to remain high for the next few days.