Building on flood plains to continue

New homes in Shropshire will still have to be built on flood plains to meet demand, the author of the official report on last summer's devastating floods said today.

Sir Michael Pitt said it was inevitable that house-building would continue in high flood risk areas because of a shortage of suitable sites in towns and cities.

The floods in pictures - click here.

Video - Residents remember floods devastation.In the report, Sir Michael also said that Britain was ill-prepared for last summer's floods which caused misery on a large scale in Shropshire.

The long-awaited findings of the Government-commissioned independent review come a year on from the flooding which hit vast parts of the country.

People in the county were left homeless by the flooding, bridges were wrecked, roads were closed and sections of the Severn Valley Railway were washed away.

Ludlow and Tenbury Wells were among the worst-hit areas in the region, with Ludlow's Burway Bridge collapsing into the river.

Residents in Tenbury Wells were left with damage estimated at £10 million.

Sir Michael said: "It would have been very tempting to come out with a blanket recommendation that says no further construction in high risk flood areas.

"I don't think that would have been realistic, remembering that there is a huge demand for housing and that the Government does intend to build something like three million new homes."

The report has been welcomed by the Institute of Civil Engineers which uses the example of Ludlow's Burway Bridge when highlighting improvements needed to protect the country's infrastructure.

ICE Regional Director for the West Midlands, Steve Feeley, said that when the bridge collapsed "it left a 16-metre wide breach in the road severing gas, water, electricity and BT services".

He added: "Shropshire County Council and its contract partners handled the situation well, but it shows just how vulnerable our infrastructure network is.