Licensee lashes out over flood defences

A licensee in Upton upon Severn who escaped the last round of floods is counting the cost of the latest wave after the Environment Agency failed to get the flood defences up in time.

Nick Mossop, licensee at the Swan, survived the deluge two weeks ago because the defences protected the pub, but said the environment agency left it too late to bring in the barriers this time.

"They knew two days before they were going to put them up, but they didn't get them to Upton."

He added: "I don't know why they don't keep them near Upton, they are a few miles away."

The floods are a blow to the pub, which has just undergone refurbishment.

Mossop said: "We have just spent a couple of hundred grand doing a pub up, and getting it back on track, and now it's all gone. We've just got to try and put it back together. It's all under six foot of water."

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "Even thought they had a police escort, the officers were stranded on the M5, that was incredibly frustrating for the police and officers who were trying to get to these properties. However, even if the defences had been used, they would have been over topped due to the amount of water that fell."

The Environment Agency said it will carry out an internal assessment of its response after the current flood emergency is over, and will consider the storage location of the Upton and Worcester flood defences.

The local businesses are now forming an action committee to confront the Environment Agency about the defences.