West Worcestershire MP Dame Harriett Baldwin has called for swifter progress to be made to deliver the long-awaited flood defence scheme for Severn Stoke.

The MP met with the chief executive of the Environment Agency this week to discuss the progress of the scheme protecting the village and the busy A38 between the M5 and Worcester. Last year, Dame Harriett suggested that Worcestershire County Council take over the scheme and use its own contractors to build the bund and raise the road alongside the village.

The council has already committed to carrying out the road improvement and in addition the Highways team will now deliver a costed plan to construct the bund protecting the village from regular flooding.

Chief executive Philip Duffy assured the MP that work was progressing, and his team and the council were working together to get project started in the summer.

Dame Harriett commented:

“Having spoken to both the Environment Agency and the county council team, there have been some further delays getting quotations from the contractor meaning that the construction work has again slipped back.

“Severn Stoke floods regularly and this project could not be more important for the residents as well as the commuters who used that busy A38 road.  I have spent over a decade trying relentlessly to prod the various authorities into actually building it.

“I’ve asked both teams to make sure that spades are in the ground on the scheme this summer as promised.

“In my opinion, we’ve had too many false dawns on this scheme and I will be keeping a close eye on this project as a plan is costed and built.”