Fears town center could become first in UK to be abandoned as shops | United Kingdom | News

A UK market town faced disastrous water damage following Storm Bert after a tractor drove onto its flooded main street on November 24.

A man has been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage and released on bail, while businessmen are left to deal with their soggy belongings and damaged goods.

It has been reported that he has since apologised, with the man saying he was rushing to help a friend save someone from the floods.

NOW, The Guardian has told how residents of Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, fear the center of the town is being “abandoned”.

Richard Sharman, the owner of Garlands Flowers, told the newspaper: “On Monday when we arrived we wanted to leave, lock the doors and disappear.”

He added: “We lost around £6,000 and we won’t get a cent back. Six weeks ago we lost around £4,000 in a flood. »

Dave Throup, a retired director of the Environment Agency (EA) in the region, said: “I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that this could potentially be abandoned.

He added: “It sounds dramatic, but people are already voting with their feet there.

“If you keep getting flooded once or twice a year and you can’t get insurance, you just can’t continue. Without some sort of flood protection, the future looks very bleak indeed. »

The location of Tenbury Wells is particularly problematic. The city is located on low, flat land, almost surrounded by water.

There is the Teme River to the north and a tributary of the waterway – the Kyre Creek – to the south.

This means that the settlement is often flooded by river water, as the Kyre Creek overflows into the town center when the Teme is full.

The Guardian adds that it can “overwhelm streets in seconds”.

In January 2022The Environment Agency (EA) said: “Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, is located on the banks of the River Teme. A tributary, the Kyre Creek, also joins the Teme River in the town.

“Both the Teme River and Kyre Creek have a long history of flooding. Following the February 2020 floods, the Government committed an additional £4.9 million of public money to enable the delivery of a Flood Risk Management Scheme (FRMS) for Tenbury Wells. .

“Our goal is to start construction by the end of 2022.”

In November 2021The government said the EA was designing a new flood risk management scheme for the Lower Wick area of ​​Worcester to “protect homes from flooding”.

The new project, it was said, will “reduce the risk of flooding to 26 properties”.