Shrewsbury flood gate closures leads to confusion for users

According to the council, the clean-up operation was not carried out due to the festive break and limited manpower.

Peter Barker, from Shrewsbury, had been trying to enjoy a bike ride along the banks of the River Severn last week when he found his route barred by a large metal gate.

As the flood waters were not high, he was at a loss as to why the towpath, close to Greyfriars Bridge, was closed.

"This causes great inconvenience to the residents of this town and tourists alike," he said. "With the river level well down, I cycled from Castlefields along the river path passing access points from St Mary’s Water Lane and the car park at the bottom of the Cop. No signs or barriers were in place to indicate that the path would be shut at Greyfriars Bridge to stop people entering this section of the river footpath.

"A few lads helped me get my bike and guitar and music bag over the gate but some tourists were quite distressed to find the gate blocking their path. I phoned the Council that afternoon and spoke to a Customer Services lady. She passed on my complaint but would not connect me with the people directly responsible for this farcical situation, saying that they had to wait for a contractor to clean the footpath. She said that she would ask then to call me, they have not.

"The footpath had no mud on it from Castlefields to Greyfriars. The gate remained closed late on the following day. This situation has been going on ever since the gate was installed several years ago. How long will this farce continue?"

Sue Pugh, who lives in Castlefields had been planning a riverside walk to blow away the New Year cobwebs but she also found the gate closed. "It did seem a little strange," she said. "The river was not in flood and hadn't been for a number of days. I understand they want to keep people away when the water level is high but it seemed peculiar that it had not been reopened after Christmas."

Ian Walshaw, Shropshire Council’s highways and environmental maintenance manager – central, said: “The towpath gates are closed when Shropshire Council receives a warning that the river level will rise such that the towpath is flooded. The river level is then monitored and when it has subsided so that it no longer affects the towpath the silt deposits are cleaned and the towpath reopened.

“The river flooded the towpath just before Christmas and the gates remained closed until a clean-up operation could be arranged when we and our contractor returned to work in the new year.

“The work was carried out on January 3 and the gates were then reopened.

“Where there is a risk of the towpath being repeatedly flooded the gates remain closed until there is no likelihood of any further flooding. Unfortunately this last occurrence was during the Christmas holiday when resources were at a minimum."