Work on the second stage of a £1.5 million flood protection scheme which could safeguard 80 homes in Shrewsbury has started, Environment Agency chiefs said today.

Phase two of the Coleham Head Flood Alleviation Scheme is under way at a cost of £125,000 and is due to finish in mid-October. The works are the second part of the Environment Agency’s (EA) scheme to reduce the effects of flooding in the town.

Phase one was completed at the start of this year when the EA carried out a trial of the new flood demountable barrier at Coleham Head.

Anthony Crowther, EA team leader, said the scheme was “vital to minimise flood risk for many people living and working in the Coleham Head area and to help keep access routes open during future floods.”

Emily Poyser, EA spokeswoman, said: “We will build a small brick-clad reinforced concrete floodwall, approximately one metre in height, with replacement railings and catch fencing to replace the existing poor condition wall around the perimeter of the Wakeman School playground.

“This will have a disabled access to the north of the site and a small section of demountable defence to allow vehicular and pedestrian access to the school.”

There has been a long and widely documented history of flooding in Shrewsbury with the first being noted in 1338 and the flood level being first recorded in 1672.

Miss Poyser added: “During a flood at Coleham Head high water levels in the River Severn back up the water in the Rea Brook and both watercourses spill out of their banks in the Coleham Head and Abbey Foregate area.”

Phase one included floodwalls adjacent to the Rea Brook and the River Severn and will help to protect people from a flood with up to a two per cent chance of happening in any year. Phase two will increase the level of protection up to a flood with a one per cent chance of happening in any one year.

When phase two is complete, the flood map on the Environment Agency website will then be updated to show the areas benefiting from the flood defence.