Battling the flood waters

It is a perfect brownfield site for 87 homes and flats – but anyne who wants to move in will have to accept the risk of flooding from the nearby Stour. On the day that the Government was set to give the green light for more building on flood plains, the big clean-up was starting in Halesowen.

A blueprint for millions of new homes was today saying it is "unrealistic" to stop building on floodplains.

The Green Paper being published by housing minister Yvette Cooper was committing the Government to three million new homes by 2010 – many of them in areas at risk of flooding.

At Clancey's in Halesowen, the building site was almost completely submerged – bringing a terrifying reality to warnings made when the plan was created.

Kendrick Homes was given the go-ahead to build 87 houses and flats on the former plant in Belle Vale in April.

Ward councillor Jenny Dunn said the Environment Agency pointed out the site was on the River Stour flood plain when the plans were submitted, but the new estate was given permission anyway.

She said: "We have known about the risk of flooding right from the word go but the planning committee said it would be fine as long as the culvert was cleaned out. Clearly this has not worked.

"I have serious concerns about this development and worry about the poor souls who buy these homes."

One couple from Burntwood were forced to call off their dream wedding because of the floods.

Jacky Tipton and Alan Baldwin had planned to marry on Saturday at the Diglis House Hotel in Worcester but were unable to get there because of the River Severn bursting its banks.

Jacky's wedding dress and their cake, as well as clothes they needed for the honeymoon, were stuck at the hotel.

So friends of the Aldenhurst couple, who are both teachers, rallied round to stage a party in the Sky Room on the 12th floor of the Ramada Hotel in Bridgtown on Saturday.

Jacky's sons and her grandchildren – who were to be bridesmaids – were unable to get to the party because they were stuck in Malvern.

The couple had booked a river boat Pride of the Midlands for a reception for 108 family members and friends.

Jacky, a teacher at Short Heath Primary School, Willenhall, said: "Our friends just decided they were not going to let us get away without a party. They have really proved themselves great friends."

"We have until April to sort out a new date for the wedding with the hotel," said Alan, who teaches at Woodlands Primary School, Willenhall.

The couple are still going to fly out to sunny Bali tomorrow on what should have been their honeymoon.

Another bride and groom donned wellies for their big day after rain threatened to ruin their marquee reception.

Vanessa and Christian Metti, who only hours before had been flooded out of their home in Bewdley, decided to arrange wellies for their guests as well. Christian took 150 pairs from his shop, Comfort Shoes, in Kidderminster.

Villagers in Wolverley were hit by freak floods for a second time. Less than a month after the village was first flooded, the River Stour again burst its banks and horrified residents watched as its fast flowing waters gushed into the High Street. The water rose to several feet and residents took the decision to close off the road from the Queens Head pub to Hardwick's Landscape Centre using flood signs left from the previous storms.

Although the water had disappeared yesterday the road was still covered in mud and debris. Northwood Lane in Bewdley also had to be closed off for three hours on Saturday afternoon after a tree came down near power lines.

Electricity supplies are not believed to have been affected. Roads closed by floods today included the Mill Road commuter route at Stourport and the B4194 "Switchback" on the Bewdley to Stourport Road. Mill Road leads onto the B4913 Hartlebury Road alongside the River Stour and to Wilden Lane into Kidderminster.

Firefighters were called out to rescue two dogs stranded by floodwater from the River Tame in a Birmingham park.

People in Perry Hill Playing Fields raised the alarm shortly after 9am yesterday after seeing the animals marooned on a concrete bridge support.

A Staffordshire fire service boat team also rescued a man and a dog from a caravan at Kinver. The crew made up of members of Red and Orange watches from Cannock fire station rescued several animals during the day including eight horses from stables and fields affected by rising water from the overflowing River Stour.

There were fears of a repeat of the flooding problems in the Staffordshire villages of Elford and Fazeley as local rivers and streams rose over the weekend. Brook End in Fazeley, which was flooded in June, was again under water as were the JollySailor, Snowdome and Strykers car parks near the River Anker. Parts of Tamworth were hit by floods on Saturday afternoon as local brooks broke their banks.

In Stafford the rivers Sow and Penk continued to rise yesterday with the flood plains under water. In Victoria Park footpaths alongside the Sow were under water.

In Witton on Friday around 200 people had to leave their homes. And in Sandwell, flash floods that closed roads like Allerton Lane in West Bromwich – where homes are still uninhabitable from June's torrential rains, and Hydes Road, had subsided within hours of Friday's downpours. A Black Country athlete had to spend the night sheltering in a community centre after the torrential downpour forced him off the road miles from home.

Willenhall marathon man Glyn Marston was delivering invoices in Herefordshire on Friday but had to abandon his journey home because of the rising water levels and spent the night in a shelter at Ledbury. John Hawker of West Midlands Ambulance Service said that staff had been "in full control" during the peak of the weekend's flooding problems.

"Off duty staff have come into work and assisted the rostered staff. All our staff have done a fantastic job throughout the region during this extremely busy time, not only the crews out on the roads but also the staff in the Emergency Operation Centres and administration staff."

* Do you have any pictures of flooding? Email them to newsdesk@expressandstar.co.uk