Scottish council confirms some pump stations did not work automatically during Brechin floods

Angus Council has confirmed that pump stations to remove surface water did not start automatically last week as flooding struck across the country after a weather warning was issued in the north east of Scotland on Friday.

The local authority said two of three pump stations aimed at removing surface water from the town's River Street did not start automatically when water was detected, but the main flood defence held, and the £16 million Brechin Flood Prevention Scheme, completed in 2015, proved "effective".

A statement from the council said: “Two of three pump stations which remove surface water from River Street from run-off and other sources, did not start automatically when water was detected.

"As soon as this was identified, a council officer attended, and the pumps were successfully started by that engineer at around 5pm on Friday. These pumps were inspected in August and were set to automatically operate at that time.”

Angus Council said if no flood defences had been in place, there would have been widespread and "potentially dangerous flooding of an estimated 332 properties".

The council said the Angus area had experienced "extremely widespread, heavy and persistent rain", with some parts of the village of Ballater on Royal Deeside left without power. The Met Office recorded 90mm of rain falling in parts of Angus in the 48-hour period between Thursday and Friday when a weather warning was in place, with the rain exceeding the November monthly average.

More than 300 properties in Brechin were advised to evacuate and spend the night in a local school amid fears of further flooding on Saturday.