Drivers ignore Shropshire flood warnings
[gallery] Driver were today accused of ignoring a Shropshire road closure – despite a drama in which a man had to be rescued from the roof of his stricken car.
Signs were erected today telling drivers that the A454 outside Bridgnorth was closed.
It came after a man in his 60s had to be rescued from his car when it became struck in a 100-metre stretch of floodwater in the early hours of today.
But vehicles continued to travel on the stretch of road, near Swancote, just before Roughton.
Vicki Bristow, of the Safer Roads Partnership, warned it was an accident waiting to happen.
She said: "We've heard of reports of people ignoring the fact that some roads are closed due to flooding.
"Road Closure signs are in place for a reason and should not be ignored. If water has flooded across a section of road it may be difficult to tell exactly how deep it is."
Emergency crews and the water rescue unit from Shrewsbury were called to the A454 flood shortly after 1am today.
The man had been travelling from Bridgnorth to Wolverhampton when his vehicle became stuck. He climbed on to the roof of his hatchback to escape water which had flooded into the vehicle and fire crews from Bridgnorth were on the scene for more than an hour.
Incident fire commander Mark Weaver said: "The flood waters were travelling off the nearby fields at a very fast pace and flooded 100 metres of the road very quickly. It is a known flooding area. The man was rescued by two water first responders in dry suits who waded to the car using floatation devices.
"The gentleman did the right thing by climbing on to his roof and calling for help. We would advise people not to drive through flood waters unless they can see the depth - and if they get stuck they shuld stay in their vehicle and call for help."
The A454 remained closed between Hermitage Hill at Bridgnorth and the B4176 at Shipley and drivers faced more problems when the Bridgnorth, Halfway House Lane closed between the B4363 & B4555 was because of surface flooding.
In Billingsley, the B4363 was closed between Bridgnorth & Cleobury Mortimer due to water and debris onto the road. Train services between Telford and Wrexham were disrupted for a while this morning after a tree fell on the line.
Flood barriers remain up in Shrewsbury and went up in Bewdley last night, but have yet to be erected in Ironbridge.
