Neen Sollars villagers demand action over floods

Villagers in Neen Sollars have called for action to be taken to make sure there is never a repeat of the floods which saw a bridge swept away and people evacuated from their homes.

And they have hit out at the Environment Agency for failing to clear the River Rea of debris such as trees, which they claim caused significant damage to the parapet of the bridge linking the village to Bewdley and the Wyre Forest area.

Graham Wilkinson, chairman of Milson and Neen Sollars Parish Council, said he had spent the past two months e-mailing a number of organisations calling for the river to be maintained before the floods over the weekend.

He said the bridge was expected to be out of action for several months and said residents were facing diversions up to seven miles long as well as major disruption to farmers and local people.

But officials at the Environment Agency claim they have cleared debris in recent weeks and have insisted the responsibility for the area lies with the owners of the bridge, Shropshire Council, and owners of the river bank.

Most of the parapet of the bridge was swept away in the early hours of Saturday morning by rising floodwater, while elderly couple Elsie and Bernard Owen had to be rescued from their home on the river bank by firefighters.

At nearby Tetstill Mill, John Bettinson found the ground floor of his home under 4ft of water after flood defences failed.

Mr Wilkinson said: "We have to sort out what has happened and resolve it, and unless the Environment Agency does something about tidying the banks and large trees in the river we could face the same situation next year."

Catherine Ellis, communications officer for the Environment Agency, said: "Activities that the Environment Agency has carried out in this area recently include the clearance of a large blockage from the bridge in early June and then removal of another large blockage upstream of the bridge a week later."

See also:

• Big clean up starts after Shropshire floods shock

• Bridge washed away in Shropshire floods

• Flood rescues as rivers rise – In pictures