Shropshire motorists ignore flood warnings

In Strefford, Craven Arms, Shropshire Fire and Rescue crews were called in the early hours of this morning to reports of an adult male trapped in fast flowing flood water who had attempted to cross a ford.

On arrival crews liaised with the Police, West Midlands Ambulance and the HART team, the rescue teams were met with a torrent of water and a car stuck facing up stream underneath a footbridge.

Station Manager Griffiths said: “Water First Responders immediately set about putting downstream safety in place in the form of inflatable fire hose. Crews from Church Stretton attempted to secure the vehicle, gain access and reassure the driver. On arrival of the specialist swift water rescue technicians from Shrewsbury, a plan to bring the driver out of the vehicle safely was put into place and the driver was successfully rescued within minutes. The situation was extremely dynamic and dangerous and this was highlighted by the vehicle being washed away as soon as the driver was rescued. I would like to take this opportunity to commend everybody involved for their actions.”

This morning, two vehicles became stranded in flood water at Walcot Bridge in Wrockwardine.

At just before 8am a male driver became stuck in flood water which was around 1 meter high. Specialist Water First Responders from Wellington fire station attended the scene and pushed the vehicle out of the flood water releasing the man back onto dry land.

Shorty afterwards at the same location, a male driver and his passenger, a young girl, became stranded at the same location. Their vehicle was also pushed from flood water by 2 water first responders.

A road closure was requested by Shropshire Fire and Rescue to Telford and Wrekin Council to stop further cars getting stuck.

Head of Prevention, Martin Timmis added: “Let me be clear; driving through flood water is dangerous. It is difficult to tell exactly how deep the water is and obstacles will be hidden, there is no guarantee that there are not uncovered manholes. Just one foot of flowing water may be enough to move the average family car.”

Levels on the River Severn at Ironbridge and Bridgnorth are set to peak later today, in Shrewsbury the Environment Agency were this morning assessing removing flood defences following a peak overnight.

Landslides
The recent wet weather has also caused two landslides in Shropshire, Bromley Lane, between Bridgnorth and Sutton Maddock is currently closed following a landslide earlier this week.

This morning a landslide at Jiggers Bank closed a section of the road between the A4169 and Cherry Tree Hill.

The following roads/footpaths are currently closed in Shropshire:

Shrewsbury area
- Gravel Hill Lane
- Sydney Avenue
- Chiltern Farm Lane, Atcham
- Atcham to Cross Houses road
- Frankwell Car Park in Shrewsbury is partially open.

Bridgnorth area
- Bromley Lane, between Bridgnorth and Sutton Maddock – closed due to a landslide.
- Doctor’s Lane, Bridgnorth
- Footpath from Doctor’s Lane to Severn Park, Bridgnorth
- Footpath from Severn Side South to Wellmeadow, Bridgnorth
There are some 250 flood warnings and 300 flood alerts in England and Wales, and two flood alerts in Scotland.