ONE of Worcester's most scenic hotels will go bankrupt if the city is hit by flooding again, its manager has warned.

Tracey Watkins is urging the Environment Agency to tidy up the riverbank to help the flow of water through the city's drains in an effort to protect the Severn View Hotel.

The listed building was shut for eight months after the river burst its banks last autumn.

But Ms Watkins, who spoke after last night's flood meeting at the Guildhall, says the hotel floods regularly when river levels rise.

"We feel exasperated that so many people are under the impression that our hotel is regularly flooded by the river," she said.

"The fact is that in 100 years the river has only flooded us on three separate occasions - twice in 2000.

"The drains, however, flood us continuously."

Ms Watkins, who also lives in the 18th Century hotel, says that she cannot face a repeat of last year.

"If it happens again - and we're all expecting to be flooded in six weeks' time - it's very likely that we'll go bankrupt.

"We can't get insurance any more, not even a minimum premium."

She said that she felt the agencies present at last night's flood meeting were unable to offer any help.

"No one knows who owns which drains - we need urgent work done by the river to stop our drains backing up," she said.

"I'm very disappointed. A huge amount of money, hard work and heartache has gone into getting the hotel up and running again.

"We opened on Friday, June 1, only to realise that, four months later, we can expect the same again."

But the Environment Agency told the meeting that its first priority following last year's floods had been to repair a number of flood defences across the country.

"We're also carrying out a strategic study," said Chris Ing, who represented the agency.

"This will be a model of the river used to find optimum solutions in any flood defences.

"We'll be able to see how defences will affect the rest of the river.

"Our first hurdle is to show that this will be worthwhile."