Work starts on rebuilding town's wall hit by floods

Work to replace a town's wall that collapsed during flooding last autumn has got under way, a council confirmed.

The wall in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, collapsed from the force of floodwater from Kyre Brook during Storm Burt, affecting homes and businesses.

Worcestershire County Council said it had been unable to identify the wall's owner but would act as a "good neighbour" and replace the structure.

The new wall on Market Street will "inevitably be stronger" than the previous "very old wall", as it would be made from modern materials, the authority said.

Construction is expected to take about two weeks to complete.

"The new structure will not prevent a very high Kyre Brook from finding its way through numerous routes onto Market Street, but the replacement will, as the wall did before its collapse, help to slow it down," a spokesperson for the county council said.

Emma Stokes, the authority's cabinet member for the environment, said she hoped its actions in replacing the wall would encourage the Environment Agency (EA) to "act promptly to bring a flood defence scheme to Tenbury".

She added the collapse of the wall in November and the delay in replacing it had caused "such anguish in the town".

Earlier this month, the EA said it would continue to seek additional funds to deliver a flood defence scheme to protect Tenbury's town centre.

A project, which includes flood walls and 20 floodgates, has been paused because of a funding gap of between £8m and £13m.

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