Major incident declared as River Trent bursts its banks

Gunthorpe was one of many communities along the River Trent which was flooded during Storm Henk
By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter

A major incident has been declared in Nottinghamshire after the River Trent burst its banks.

Nottinghamshire County Council announced the incident on January 4 after days of heavy rain from Storm Henk.

The authority said the River Trent could reach its highest levels recorded since 2000.

A number of road closures are in place due to the flooding, including the A6097 at Gunthorpe, Wilford Lane at Compton Acres and the A617 at Kelham.

Several homes close to the river bank have been evacuated at Radcliffe Residential Park, a mobile home site on Wharf Lane, Radcliffe on Trent.

Stoke Lane in Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire and Nottingham Local Resilience Forum declared the incident due to rising river levels, which have not yet peaked as of 4pm on Thursday (January 4).

The council said key tributaries which feed into the River Trent have already reached their peaks and high water levels will now pass down the Trent.

This is likely to lead to flooding of properties and roads, following days of high water in areas away from the Trent caused by heavy rainfall.

Cllr Richard MacRae (Ind) said businesses in Stapleford are “fed up” with repeated flooding in Bessell Lane, which was badly affected on Wednesday.

Cllr Richard MacRae (Ind), representing Stapleford North, said: “Bessell Lane has flooded yet again.

“Businesses are getting fed up with it and rightly so.

“We need action. There’s a big possibility that businesses will move out of Stapleford and we don’t want that at all.”

Darren Henry, Conservative MP for Broxtowe added: “Nottinghamshire County Council made sure that Via East Midlands emptied the gulleys.

“There is a concern that they may not have the capacity to take the volume of water that’s coming in these flood events.

“That’s something we need to look at long term.

“As the MP I will keep on the case.”