Humber flood defence work continues

So far, more than 7km of defences have been repaired, from Barton to Goxhill Haven. Work has also started this week on the stretches of flood bank at Far Ings, west of Barton and these should be finished by around the middle of March.

Mark Adams, senior coastal adviser, said: “The tidal surge in December caused damage to defences right along the south Humber bank from Whitton to East Halton. Since then, we have been extremely busy, concentrating our efforts on those sections of defence where repairs are needed most. This has included successfully securing £1.5m in Government funding and pulling in machinery from other areas of the country to enable us to ensure we continue to reduce tidal flood risk to communities on the Humber.”

Meanwhile the GMB union said an amended timetable for 1,700 job losses will be laid out despite assurances from the Prime Minister that no jobs would be lost while the flooding crisis continued.

The agency has announced that any redundancies have been suspended, but unions believe the position will change as soon as the flooding recedes.