River Welland has burst banks between Cowbit and Crowland

A river has burst its banks and has flooded onto farmland.

Concerns have been raised about the levels of the River Welland in the Crowland area in the aftermath of Storm Henk – which caused devastation across the county with the deluge of rain on Tuesday.

Pictures taken by Haden Brittain, of Moulton Eaugate, show that the river has now overtopped its banks and is flooding onto the washes around Four Mile Bridge, near Peak Hill, this morning.

The Environment Agency had previously stated that the Cowbit and Crowland Washes were coming to the ‘end of the design life’ after being constructed in 1664 to take excess water from the Welland and were flooded on an annual basis until a series of improvements, including the Coronation Channel, after the 1947 incident.

The agency – which came under fire for not looking after its assets when the Bourne Eau burst its banks yesterday – secured £2.8million of Government funding to investigate the ‘best use’ of washes in 2022. Consultants have been engaged to undertake modelling work – but there has not been another further announcements on that project.

North Level District Drainage Board chief executive Paul Sharman told us yesterday: “If the Welland is running brim full I would suggest that we need to have serious consideration, discussion or debate about whether they are coming to the end of their life or on the verge of being needed again.”

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