Flood prevention cash boost for Beckford

A village near Tewkesbury, where more than 40 homes flooded in 2007, will receive £120,000 in flood defence funding.

It forms part of a £3 million pot of money for flood defences made available by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The Beckford money was approved in a bid submitted by Wychavon District Council and Eckington-based environmental consultants Haycock, with the backing of the Environment Agency. It will be used to survey flooded properties in the village and develop flood protection, such as air brick covers and door guards, for those worst affected.

Steve Jorden, (corr) the council's head of environmental services, said: "This bid has largely been successful because the villagers have been so pro-active and organised. They put together a flood working group with Wychavon and Haycock, who are specialists in flooding and will do the household surveys, and then put together this successful bid."

The council says the Beckford scheme will be used as a test case. Many areas in Wychavon affected by flooding either have flood defences or would not benefit from them but the council says Beckford is a good example of a place where this should work – with others potentially to follow if further funding is made available.

Mr Jorden added: "We were keen that this work was done by a local company with local knowledge. Also in this current climate we felt it only right to invest the money in our own economy."

Haycock is set to start the work in the next couple of months.

See tomorrow's Gloucestershire Echo for further details.