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Flooding: 'Hero' Shropshire bin crew helps pupils stranded

Bin men use lorry to help stranded school children

A crew of refuse workers used their bin lorry to rescue school children who were left stranded in floodwater.

The team has been dubbed "local heroes" after a brook burst its banks in the village of Diddlebury, Shropshire, and swamped the roads.

It meant parents and carers were unable to collect their children from Corvedale Church of England Primary School.

Using their vehicle, the crew helped pupils cross the flood waters.

Kim Simm, who lives near the school, said the men took several journeys back and forth on Friday afternoon to bring the children to their parents as they waited on the other side of the brook.

Elsewhere, a severe flood warning, meaning a "danger to life", has been issued for villages on the banks where the Severn and Vyrnwy meet on the border in the north of the county.

The Environment Agency (EA) issued 12 flood warnings for waterways across the West Midlands on Saturday along with 15 flood alerts.

The EA has said temporary flood barriers had been put up in Ironbridge with the river level expected to peak on Monday.

Barriers have also been put in place in Frankwell, Shrewsbury.

The Rea Brook near Shrewsbury has burst its banks

Videos captured near Rea Brook in the town have shown high water levels with residents being warned by the EA that flooding is possible in the area.

Road closures have been put in place in both directions of the A488 in Colebatch, as well as the Battlefield Link Road in Shrewsbury.

English Bridge in Shrewsbury
The water levels at the English Bridge in Shrewsbury remained high on Saturday evening

On the trains, heavy rain flooding the railway between Shrewsbury and Gobowen has blocked all of the lanes, National Rail has said.

Kim Simm FloodwaterKim Simm
The floodwater in Diddlebury meant parents struggled to pick their children up from school

Passengers have been warned that services running between Shrewsbury and Chester may be cancelled or delayed with disruption expected to last until the end of the day.

Shropshire Council has said Frankwell and St Julian's car parks in Shrewsbury have been closed because of the floodwaters and motorists have been urged to find alternative modes of transport to get to the town.

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