Hereford Times - 7th January 2016 - Page 2
Hereford Times - 7th January 2016 - Page 2
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Image Details
| Date | 07/01/2016 |
|---|---|
| Type | |
| Format | |
| Language | English |
| Area | Hereford Times |
| Collection Holder | |
| Date of Publication | 7th January 2016 |
| Transcription |
n L THE HEREFORD TIMES Thursday. January 7, 2016 herefordtimescom If) {sons 5! -' 62m Cr '179539/77/ ". “tat-2d 13,454 likes o 17,113 followers on facebookcom/ Twitterat he refordltimes @HTnewsroom I Recycled paper makes up 78.9% of the raw muorlal (or UK newspaper: Punters ‘park and walk’ as waters rise By deesica Phillips WE‘RE only seven days into 2016 but the. county is still facing up to the conse- quences of one of the wet- test Deceinbers on record. Flood barriers , were raised in Hereford as a precaution last week and there have been numerous road closures as well as 10- calised flooding. According to the Met Of- fice. the average December rainfall for Herefordshire is 82.8mm. In December 2015, there was a total rain- fall of 140.9mni — 170 per cent, almost double the av- erage. But floodwater did not stop punters in the Golden Valley from enjoying a pint at their local. providing they could ‘park and walk‘. Heavy rain in the foothills of the Black Mountains caused flash flooding of the Escley Brook next to the Bridge Inn at Michael- church Escley. The road next to the pub was impassable and the water level was only a foot away from flooding the pub itself. Glyn Bufton, who runs the Inn as well as the nearby Bridge Farmhouse B&B, said: “The floodwater was over the bridge so you couldn’t drive to the pub: People parked at the end of the road and walked down. “It was over a period of about 24 hours It’s was as bad as I have ever seen it. The footpath is about six feet higher than the bridge so people could still use that but without that we The flooded road between the A49 at Wellington and Marden1552_4001 would have had to close.” Mr Bufton said around 30 people still braved the wet conditions to have their lunch at the pub. Meanwhile a Hereford- shire-based dog display team is desperately search- ing for alternative land on which to practice before Landlord of The Bridge Inn, Glyn Bufton, on the footbridge across the brook. At its highest the water was a foot below the 1601_1006. Photo: James Maggs Stuart Brace, who runs Paws For Thought, said his team has been unable to practice at their usual ven- ue, at Wyevale, due to the sodden ground. There are just six weeks until the first event and Mr Brace said the team urgently ‘. needs somewhere to train. “We have put our heads together and approached a number of riding schools but they are booked up,” he said. Anyone who can help should call Mr Brace on 01568 797016. Flood alerts remained in place at the time of going to press yesterday, although warnings had been removed. The Met Office said there is likely to be a mixture of sunshine and showers for the county over the next few days. And although it’s too early to be certain, the win- ter attire may have to come out next week with a colder snap possibly on the way. Garage THE owner of a vehicle re- pair centre in Hereford had to turn away customers af- ter his garage flooded. Mike Edwards, who runs Widemarsh Bodyworks with his son, Steven, put the high water down to on— going work associated with the city’s new link road in the Widemarsh Street area. Monday’s flooding came about, he claimed, because Herefordshire Council con— tractor, Balfour Beat‘ty, had dammed up a nearby brook during construction work. Mr Edwards said the prob— lem came about as Jewsons is having a new entrance made to make up for the land the business lost to Royal Mail due to the new road linking Commercial Road and Edgar Street. “A new pipe was put in un- _+_ ,t top of the wall. ; t floods after road works der the gateway for them to get in and the brook was dammed, which has caused the flooding.” Mr Edwards said the flood left him unable to work and out of pocket. He added: “Balfour Beatty should have known the ex- cess rain would cause prob- lems. They should have come down and removed the dam earlier.” A spokeswoman for Bal- four Beatty Living Places said they had carried out diversionary works at Plough Lane to reduce the flow of water at Wide marsh Brook, so work can be carried out to replace culverts. She said: “Some of the wa- ter flows that come down the Widemarsh Brook have been diverted to Yazor Brook in order to reduce the overall flow of water for the installation of the culverts. “Herefordshire has expe- rienced excessive amounts of rainfall for the season, which has had a signifi- cant impact on the water levels in an area that is known as a flood plain, including the Widemarsh Brook area. “Balfour Beatty Living Places do not believe that the temporary arrange- ments would have caused the flooding and are inves- tigating whether it would have occurred irrespective of the construction work. “We will continue to work with Widemarsh Body- works and any other af- fected business during this process.” Water fills Widemarsh Bodyworks in Hereford |
| Newspaper name | Hereford Times |