Lincolnshire flooding: Drivers warned of dangers after car submerged

Drivers have been warned not to ignore road closures after a motorist became stuck in flood water near Lincoln.

Lincolnshire Police shared images on Saturday showing a car partially submerged at Dunham Bridge, which spans the River Trent. The bridge remained closed on Monday.

Officers said the driver, who was not injured, "thought they knew better".

Lincolnshire's fire chief Mark Baxter said: "I recognise it's frustrating, but closures are there for a reason."

On Monday, Mr Baxter, who is also chair of the resilience forum, said the county had seen "unprecedented" flooding.

Confirming the A57 at Dunham Bridge was still closed, with diversions in place, he said: "We are continually monitoring the situation and we will reopen [the road] as soon as levels drop.

"Flood water is slowly receding."

Mr Baxter said it was vital road closures were adhered to, adding flood waters contained "visible and hidden hazards".

Ignoring notices "puts yourself and emergency responders at risk", he said. "It's just not worth the risk."

Mr Baxter said it was an "improving picture" across the county but warned: "We're not out of the woods yet."

Meanwhile, Mr Baxter confirmed investigations would be carried out into why part of Torksey Lock Caravan Park near Lincoln flooded.

Some residents were forced to evacuate on Friday.

Mr Baxter said it was still "too early" to comment about possible causes of that flooding, but added: "What I will say is that water levels were the highest on record."

Fraser Turner, the park's manager, previously told of the upset caused by the flooding.

Asked about claims circulating on social media that the caravan park had flooded due to concentrated efforts to protect the lock, Mr Baxter said: "We need to understand once the water levels have receded exactly why some areas flooded and why areas didn't."

At Torksey, River Trent levels peaked at 24ft 4in (7.42m) on Sunday, official data showed. The previous highest level recorded was 23ft 9in (7.31m) in November 2000. On Monday morning, the level had dropped to 22ft 1in (6.75m), Mr Baxter confirmed.

Two flood warnings remain for Lincolnshire, at Heighington Beck and the River Witham from Washingborough to Metheringham.

Mr Baxter said "quite a lot of water" remained at locations including Greatford near Stamford, Heighington near Lincoln, and Tallington near Bourne.

At Tallington, the Environment Agency (EA) was expected to take over pumping from firefighters on Monday, he said.

Mr Baxter said the resilience forum was not predicting further river breaches but officials were continuing to "closely monitor" levels.

He said: "Breaches can happen at various places, at relatively short notice, so the EA has enhanced monitoring across all of our main riverways.

"It still has teams out, physically inspecting and checking all of the river banks where we have seen significant amounts of rainfall."

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