Engineers examine every main bridge in Scottish flood zone

Published on Monday 23 November 2009 21:58

ENGINEERS began checking the safety of bridges in flood-hit southern Scotland as forecasters warned of more severe weather, with storms claiming another life yesterday.

The Met Office issued an early warning predicting heavy rain and high winds across Dumfries and Galloway, the Borders and Cumbria today.

The region is braced for more flooding with up to three inches of rain expected between 6am and midnight, and gusts of 65mph possible.

It comes as the area starts to recover from flooding caused by heavy rain last week, which saw roads closed and power supplies disrupted, when the River Nith burst its banks following the deluge.

The Whitesands area of Dumfries was badly hit and several homes were flooded in Ettrick and Yarrow in the Borders.

Engineers yesterday began carrying out inspections of all major structures over principal rivers in the affected areas of Dumfries and Galloway.

These include the bridges in Dumfries town centre, Shillahill near Lochmaben and also Langholm, all in Dumfriesshire.

Over the Border, structural engineers and military experts have been carrying out an urgent safety review of Cumbria's 1,800 bridges after police officer Bill Barker died when a span collapsed.

Further south, a van driver was killed yesterday after being hit by a falling tree.

The man, in his 40s, was trapped in his vehicle in Woodmancote, near Henfield, West Sussex, at lunchtime.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) also issued a flood warning for the River Nith, while eight flood watches were in force across Scotland.

Dumfries and Galloway Police warned of further flooding in the region as the ground is already saturated and rivers are swollen.

They advised motorists to travel only if necessary.

Inspector Neil Hewitson, of the roads policing unit, said: "We have seen the effects that heavy rain has had on our roads over the past week and we again warn motorists about the dangers of driving in these conditions."

Meanwhile, people in flood-hit Cockermouth were allowed back to their homes and businesses to begin the clean-up yesterday.

Police lifted a cordon around the 900 affected properties in the Cumbrian town so the flood victims could see how much damage had been done.

Many were emotional as they opened their front doors to be confronted by broken furniture, floors carpeted in mud and water-ruined stock.

Elaine Oxon, owner of fashion store Westmidges, in Main Street, lost her entire stock.

She said: "The smell is absolutely horrendous, it might be contaminated. We may never be able to open again and I feel like giving up."

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced emergency funding to help rebuild bridges and roads.