Horncastle flood alleviation scheme fault to be investigated

Anti-flood measures in part of Lincolnshire failed to hold as much water as intended during recent rain, the Environment Agency (EA) has said.

About 80 homes were flooded in Horncastle at the weekend, despite the £8m alleviation scheme which was completed for the area in 2017.

A sluice gate did not automatically operate as it should have, the EA said.

An investigation would be carried out alongside its continued to response to the flooding, the agency pledged.

The multi-million pound Horncastle flood alleviation scheme, operated by the EA, consists of a single flood storage reservoir on the River Bain, upstream of Horncastle.

The scheme uses land owned by farmer John Harrison, who told the BBC he noticed on Friday that during Storm Babet, water was flowing back into the river rather than being stored in the reservoir.

Leigh Edlin, the EA's area director for Lincolnshire, said: "We are aware the flood alleviation scheme did not reduce flood risk to the extent it was designed to."

"There is a possibility that this could have affected some properties on the River Bain in Horncastle," he added.

Mr Edlin apologised to those affected and said: "We will continue our investigation and ensure we learn from its findings."

The scheme was now being operated manually, he said, meanwhile EA staff remained on high alert as the "risk of flooding remains high in many areas".

Lincolnshire County Council confirmed that about 80 properties were flooded in Horncastle after Storm Babet.

The authority welcomed the EA's review into what had gone wrong with the flood alleviation scheme there.

Colin Davie, executive member for environment, said: "Back in 2017, two new flood alleviation schemes opened in Louth and Horncastle, designed to better protect the towns from the misery and disruption that flooding had brought previously.

"Understandably, six years later, residents are asking questions as to why Horncastle faced such extreme flooding again, when the sister scheme in Louth appears to have worked as intended."

The county council would support the EA's investigation, Mr Davie said.

"Once the current threat from flooding has completely subsided, as lead local flood authority for the county, we'll also be completing our own investigations into the recent flooding in Horncastle and elsewhere in Lincolnshire," he added.

A number of flood warnings were still in place across Lincolnshire on Thursday.

Earlier, people living in around 70 properties in Fiskerton, near Lincoln, had been told to leave their homes due to the risk of flooding.

This was due to concern on Wednesday about damage along a 98.4ft (30m) stretch of riverbank along the River Witham.

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