Keynsham Town: Ground flooding worst in a decade, secretary says

A football club's ground has been closed after suffering the worst flooding in a decade.

Keynsham Town's Crown Field has been shut, along with other sports venues in Somerset, due to flooding.

Club secretary Julian French said the water levels on the site were the worst since Christmas Day in 2013.

Bath Rugby's game against Toulon was also postponed and moved to Kingsholm stadium in Gloucester, after The Rec failed a safety inspection.

The club said "heavy and persistent rain" had caused the River Avon to overflow adjacent to the stadium and "rising ground water" was preventing "safe supporter access to and from the ground and making the pitch unusable".

Keynsham Town called off the game against Torpoint AFC in the Western League on Friday after heavy rainfall.

The club joked on Twitter that the match was postponed because it was "unable to raise a water polo team".

Mr French said the flooding was the worst he had seen in a long time.

"The only time it's been this bad was Christmas Day 2013," he said.

"That still holds the record for the highest flood levels here, but we are very close.

"We are less than a metre away from that, so it is bad."

The Environment Agency has also issued several flood warnings for Somerset, including Upper Frome, Winford Brook, Aller and Doniford Stream and the middle of the Avon area.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service has urged people to make take extra precautions on the roads or when travelling and to check flood updates in their area.

It said river levels were "expected to continue to rise across our service area over the next couple of days" so people should prepare by checking weather warnings and local authority advice "and don't drive through flood water".

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