BEFORE July 2007 not many people had heard of Mythe – let alone knew how important it was to Gloucestershire's water supply.

But when the water treatment plant outside Tewkesbury flooded after the banks of the River Severn burst, 150,000 homes in the county were left without clean water.

Two years on, neighbours of Mythe, who had watched in horror as the plant was breached, say not enough has been done since 2007 to stop disaster from striking again.

John Oliver, 70, who lives at the Toll House next to Mythe Bridge, said: "What happened in 2007 was unprecedented, but since then not much seems to have been done.

"I have seen workers come along to bore holes in the ground and carry out assessment work, but it's taken two years to get that far."

The fear of flooding is still at the forefront of people's minds. Rachel Gallagher, 31, who works at the garden centre in Mythe, said: "Lots of people around here are still worried that it is vulnerable to flooding.

"You can see every time there is a sharp spell of rain that the water doesn't drain properly. Protecting the treatment plant should be one of our top priorities."

When parts of the county lost its water supply, the Army were drafted in to deliver supplies and 1,400 bowsers were stationed on street corners and car parks.

Sally Orchard, who lives at the top of the hill which overlooks the site said: "Common sense dictates that it should be made safe for good.

"We mustn't have a repeat of what happened before."

Severn Trent, which owns the site, put up a temporary barrier imm- ediately after the floods, which is still in place.

But the company has announced plans to build a permanent wall around the plant as part of a £40 million project to keep drinking water flowing.

The scheme also comprised plans for a £25 million, 17km pipeline between a reservoir at Strensham and Churchdown, to act as a back-up water supply.

A spokesman for the firm said: "The events of the summer of 2007 brought into sharp focus the importance of utilities being prepared for emergencies. We have learned many lessons from the floods and as a result, we've made some major improv- ements to our flood defences.

"A planning application to install permanent flood defences at the Mythe Water Treatment Works is expected to be lodged during the next few weeks, while plans for the pipeline are well underway.

"Subject to planning approvals, we hope to start construction early in 2010, with the completion in early in 2011."

While Mythe succumbed to the rising water levels, the fight began to save a substation in Gloucester during the aftermath of the rain two years ago.

Desperate efforts were made to stop flood water from swamping the National Grid switching centre at Walham, which provides power to 500,000 homes.

Dubbed The Battle for Walham, the Army and emergency services managed to stopped the flood water just 2ins before the level at which the plant would have flooded.

A spokesman for the National Grid said more than £1 million had been invested in temporary and dem- ountable defences at the substation.

He said: "We have invested in research with the Met Office to see how climate change affects our operations and we are now part- icipating in a cross-utility flood taskforce on substation resilience which is led by the Energy Networks Association."