Coroner's River Severn safety measures in place at Shrewsbury after Daniel Hodgin's tragic drowning

Coroner John Ellery had asked Shropshire Council to work with the Environment Agency to ensure gates to the towpath along the Severn in the town are locked when the river level reaches 1.95 metres.

Mr Ellery issued the call as part of his conclusions into the death of Daniel Hodgin, 20, from Madeley in Telford, on November 23, last year.

At the inquest, the coroner had heard it was likely Mr Hodgin had gone through a gate leading to a riverside path at Castlefields in Shrewsbury that should have been locked due to high water levels.

Simon Jones, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transport, said that the Environment Agency is now able to tell the council when the river level will be rising to a level which covers the towpath.

He said: "Following the inquest, Shropshire Council wrote to the coroner outlining a number of actions that we were intending to take - and many of these have already been actioned.

"We undertook to work with the Environment Agency (EA) to get an automated method of reporting when river levels were expected to rise and engulf the towpath. The EA was unable to provide us with automated triggers, but they are able to model levels at a number of points up stream on the River Severn that will provide us enough time to be able to close existing access gates.

"We have levels at the Montford Bridge river gauge that will give us four to eight hours' notice that flooding is likely in Shrewsbury. We've taken that information to a specialist software designer who has been able to send email alerts based on both the Montford and Welsh Bridge level gauges. They are now working on also getting text alerts included on the system."

Councillor Jones said that a number of other measures have also been taken and are being considered in an effort to prevent a repeat of the tragedy.

They include investigations into "the engineering feasibility for increasing barriers along some sections of the towpath" and "improving CCTV coverage, so potentially "at risk" towpath users can be identified".

Shrewsbury Town Council has also improved the towpath lighting between the English Bridge and The Weir.

Mr Jones added that a number of council departments, the police, Street Pastors and Shrewsbury Town Council, have been working response plans and changing behaviours so that people get home safely.

Mr Hodgin's inquest took place in April this year and recorded a conclusion of accidental death, finding that the 20 year old had most likely accidentally stepped into the river after becoming lost following a night out.

Shropshire Council was responsible for ensuring the gate at Castlefields was closed and locked once the river was 1.95 metres deep, but the inquest was told that the authority had not received notification from the Environment Agency.

The inquest heard that the gate should have been shut and locked because the river level was higher than 1.95 metres at the Welsh Bridge - the trigger for it to be locked by the council.

Mr Ellery said: "I shall write focusing on the river levels and gauges so the Environment Agency and Shropshire Council can work together so that when levels of the river reach a dangerous level then the plan to shut and lock the gate can be effectively implemented."