'We are prepared' - Town's mayor promises Bridgnorth is ready for floods

Bridgnorth has been affected five times by floods since 2020, with the response by Shropshire Council and national agencies often criticised by residents and councillors for inadequate co-ordination.

However, the town's mayor, Councillor Ian Wellings, says the issues that have hampered the response in previous years should now be a thing of the past thanks to the emergency system put in place by the town's Flood Action Group, which he helped set up.

“We have a really good emergency response system set up now,” he said.

“We get a lot of reports from the national agencies and Shropshire Council, and when the river reaches a certain level, this emergency system kicks in.”

He said the response will see the action group close certain roads, and begin a co-ordinated distribution of sand bags to local residents and businesses.

“This means we should not have the same issues we experienced last year as the system is working really well now,” said councillor Wellings.

“It took some time to get to where we are now, partly because we needed enough volunteers, but they are all in place now.”

And he praised the committee now running the group.

“I've taken a back seat from the Flood Action Group but the new committee is doing a fabulous job – it is really positive," he said. 

It comes as melting snow this week saw the River Severn in the town reach the top of its normal range and a number of flood warnings issued across Shropshire.

Further snow and rain has also been predicted for the weekend.