Flood-hit road between Telford and Shrewsbury remaining closed
Part of a commuter road linking Telford and Shrewsbury will remain closed this week due to bridge and carriageway repairs.
The normally busy B5062 between at the mill bend between Roden and High Ercall was closed on Friday after high water levels caused damage to the bridge over the River Roden.
Telford & Wrekin Council said that so far stabilising work was going well and as a result the road will stay closed for the week to allow the repair work to continue.
Council spokesman Russell Griffin spokesman said: "The road closure has been caused by flooding which resulted in the bridge walls failing.
"However, when water levels recede sufficiently we will have to implement another emergency road closure of three to four days to install a more robust solution that will last until the planned reconstruction works of the retaining walls are carried out early next year."
Chairman of Ercall Magna Parish Council, Councillor Ray Wickson said: "There has been adverse effects on residents. The main disruption for the community is actually the changes to the bus routes the number 16 and the 519. The Arriva service 519 is now running via Shawbury and timetable will have changed. Local motorists know the back roads and which lanes to use to get round.
"The road has been closed since Friday and the flooding affected approaches to the bridge."
Flood alerts remained in place today for the River Severn, River Sow, River Penk, Severn Vyrnwy Confluence, Tern and Perry Catchments and the Upper Teme.
Farms have suffered “unprecedented damage” from the recent flooding, a farmers’ leader said as she called for support for those affected.
Severe flooding hit several parts of Yorkshire and the East Midlands last week, with areas around Doncaster worst affected after the River Don burst its banks.
National Farmers’ Union president Minette Batters said the full impact on farmers in the region is not yet known, but potentially 30%-50% of potatoes are still in the ground and there have been big losses in the maize harvest.
Winter crops have not been sown, with pesticide products likely to be out of date by the time they can next be used, and there could potentially be shortages of seed for spring planting.
It could lead to “massive and unprecedented costs”, Ms Batters warned.
Saying British growers are “pretty phenomenal”, she added: “I know everybody will be doing everything possible to make sure there are no shortages of sprouts for Christmas, there are no shortages of potatoes.”
But she said it showed the need for the Government and Environment Agency to take managing water seriously.
She said the floods were “living proof that we are going to see more extreme weather events, and the future government has to look at how we store water, and how we deal with water maintenance going forwards”.
“We’ve got to make space for water,” she urged.
