First phase of flood work in Sheffield Upper Don Valley completed

The River Loxley impacting residential properties at Rudyard Mews during a flood event in 2007

The first phase of improvements to flood defences in an area of Sheffield have been completed, officials said.

The Upper Don Flood Alleviation Scheme aims to protect 63 homes and 152 businesses from the damaging effects of flooding, like those seen in the area in 2007 and 2019.

The completed phase saw improvements to flood defences on the Lower Loxley at Hillsborough and Owlerton.

It included building a series of walls and the removal of a redundant weir.

Sheffield City Council is working with the Environment Agency and the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority on the multi-million pound scheme, which aims to protect communities from Stocksbridge through Oughtibridge and Hillsborough to the city centre.

Councillor Ben Miskell, chair of the transport, regeneration and climate policy committee, said: "The council is committed to protecting all residents in the city from flooding.

"With predictions for warmer and wetter winters, heavier downpours in the summer, and more extreme weather events as a result of climate change, Sheffield's flood risk continues to increase and we recognise the importance of building our resilience and taking action as soon as possible," he added.

Work in progress to protect residential properties at Rudyard Mews from flooding in 2023

Stewart Mounsey, from the Environment Agency, said: "This scheme in the Loxley Valley not only provides an improved level of protection to homes and businesses, but also benefits local habitat by removing barriers to fish migration.

"This is part of a catchment-wide approach using engineered defences as well as natural flood management techniques in the upper reaches to hold back and slow the flow of water, reducing flood risk downstream."

"This is one of our ambitions... to tackle the impacts of climate change across South Yorkshire," he added.

The Upper Don Flood Alleviation Scheme is one of six planned for the city, the council said.