Shropshire village calls for answers on flooding

Albrighton was hit by a deluge on May 27, with homes and streets flooded as drains struggled to cope with the volume of water.

Images of the flooding showed some properties submerged in several feet of water, while a number of roads were completely impassable.

In the wake of the clean up, Albrighton Parish Council is now seeking professional answers over the situation and assurances that measures will be taken to avoid a repeat.

The authority has confirmed it has contacted Shropshire Council, Severn Trent and the Environment Agency, asking them to visit the village and assess the reasons behind the flooding.

Council chairman Peter Woodman said: “We are all very concerned, not least because it is the second time there has been this massive flooding in just over 10 years.

"For people to be inundated for the second time, many of them in the same road, when such major works were carried out on behalf of Severn Trent, the situation is totally unacceptable.”

“We have written to the relevant authorities and we have asked them to investigate and come and report to us about why this happened again and what can be done to ensure it never happens again.”

Councillor Woodman said he and his colleagues are hoping a campaign group, led by residents, can also be set up to tackle the issue.

Improved

He said: “We had residents coming to the meeting last week to raise their concerns so we suggested they form an action group to press the concerns. We want it to be led by the people who have sadly been affected so badly.”

Councillor Woodman added that work carried out in the village around 2008 had improved the situation, but questions needed answering over the latest incident.

He said: “That work improved matters considerably, but clearly with the same sort of roads being affected and people having to have carpets and furniture on their lawns, the same sort of people who were affected in the 2000 floods, the situation has not improved at all for them and we hope an action group will be formed by residents.

“We have got two experts who helped campaign for the previous work to be carried out who have said they will join the group and offer their help again.”

Councillor Woodman explained that they had made formal requests for official responses over the likely causes of the flooding.

He said: “The council has written again to ask that their technically qualified staff visit Albrighton within the next two weeks to gather evidence concerning the behaviour of their infrastructure and equipment during the flood, including talking to residents affected who are able to provide an account of what happened and some are able to provide photographs and videos of the event.”

The council is also calling on the organisations to attend a public meeting and make a presentation to councillors and residents.

People are being asked to provide photographic and video of the most recent floods to use as evidence for any review of the situation.