West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin has expressed her relief that lorries have finally started arriving in Severn Stoke heralding the start of the construction of the long-awaited flood defences.

Following weeks of tense negotiations, the soil saved from the Southern Link Road scheme is being removed and stored at Severn Stoke to be used in a bund protecting the village and the A38.

The removal required a complicated approval process but all the paperwork was completed yesterday (October 5) allowing the work to start today.

Harriett commented:

“I am delighted for the villagers of Severn Stoke who are finally seeing progress after many, many years of delays.

“I stood in front of villagers in 2014 pledging to fight for the permanent scheme. We’ve still got another winter to get through, but I am pleased that the lorries are moving and materials are being moved into place.

“It’s been quite a battle over the last couple of weeks, getting every permission in place and ticking every box, and this is testament to the hard work and patience of the local Flood Action Group and Chris Prosser, who is moving the material onto the Severn Stoke site and the efforts of the Environment Agency and Worcestershire County Council.

“I won’t be properly satisfied until I am standing on a fully constructed bund around the village, but this is a huge further step forward.”