Streets flood and roads shut as Storm Bert strikes

Streets have flooded, roads closed and transport disrupted after Storm Bert continued to affect the West Midlands.

The Kyre Brook in Tenbury Wells rose and caused a wall to collapse, flooding much of the Worcestershire town centre, while a landslide at nearby Rochford closed the B4203.

A man had to be rescued from his car in Walsall during the morning as West Midlands Fire Service warned people not to drive through flood water.

Schools in Herefordshire and Worcestershire, including Tenbury, have said they will be shut on Monday due to localised flooding.

A number of roads across Herefordshire and Shropshire were closed, including the B4203 at Bromyard, and the A49 near Church Stretton.

Rail services were also cancelled between Shrewsbury and Swansea and the line from Birmingham to Shrewsbury was blocked for a time due to flooding on the tracks.

Trains from Birmingham Snow Hill to Stratford-upon-Avon were also disrupted along with services between Worcester Foregate Street, Great Malvern and Hereford.

Trains from Walsall were either cancelled or delayed after flooding also made its way to the station.

It followed similar flooding at Gobowen station in north Shropshire on Saturday afternoon.

The worst of the flooding, however, was reserved for Tenbury Wells, when the collapse of a wall on the Kyre Brook led to a surge in water through the streets of the town.

The moment the wall was breached was captured live on the Farson Digital Watercams feed, at 11:40 GMT.

David Chambers, who represents Tenbury on the county council, said the level of the brook had risen to the top of the wall before it collapsed.

Due to the drains being full, the flooding caused sewage to come out on to Market Street, he added.

"There was a bit of a panic because we didn't realise just how much of the area would flood as a result of that wall collapsing."

Some people were still in their businesses setting up flood defences and a few of them had to be helped to safety by firefighters, he added.

"Tenbury is enormously resilient, our businesses are tremendous but this is another flood - we only had the last one a couple of weeks ago," Chambers said.

He repeated previous calls for the Environment Agency (EA) to give the formal go-ahead for flood defences to be built in Tenbury, adding that they were needed "desperately".

Footage of a tractor being driven through the flooded streets, causing bow waves to hit shop windows, caused anger on social media.

Louise Preston, who owns pottery shop Pitter Potter in Tenbury, said the store's front window was smashed by the water when the tractor drove past.

She said the bow wave took out the windows of other shops too and described it as "devastating for the town".

The water in her shop receded throughout the day, but she said it was up to waist height in places at one point.

"This is not what the town needed, particularly not in the run-up to Christmas which, at the pottery studio, is out busiest time," she added.

Ms Preston said she hoped the store would be back open as soon as possible, but, with the damage to the window, she did not know when that would be.

"The town always pulls together really well in times like this," she added.

Elsewhere, fire crews said they were called to Bridgeman Street in Walsall during the early hours to rescue an elderly motorist stranded in flood water. The motorist was unharmed.

Flooding blocked rail lines between Walsall and Rugeley Trent Valley and a fallen tree at Earlswood blocked the track between Stratford and Shirley.

In Shrewsbury, Frankwell Main and Riverside car parks were shut due to rising river levels.

Herefordshire Council said the flooding had also caused roads to break up at Lockhill, Upper Sapey and Leintwardine High Street.

Meanwhile, Birmingham Airport reported that there were some minor delays due to the weather conditions.

The Environment Agency has issued about 30 flood warnings and more than 45 flood alerts across the West Midlands, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Shropshire.

At Orleton, the EA said homes could flood when the Mill Brook level reached 0.65m. Early on Sunday it peaked at 1.32m, before falling back to 0.69m by the evening.

As river levels are expected to remain high, flood barriers were put up in Bewdley, Worcestershire, and around Herefordshire.

A yellow warning of wind is in place until the end of Sunday which may cause disruption.

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