KEMPSEY flood victims are bracing themselves for another miserable winter with no sign of any action to prevent further flooding.

A promised public meeting to discuss flood alleviation measures has still not taken place, despite the parish council's regular prompting of the Environment Agency.

Last winter, 10 houses in Church Street were flooded with silt-laden water, which also extended half-way across the A38 and threatened houses in St Mary's Close.

Rex and Joy Oram had to evacuate their Grade II listed thatched cottage, where the ground floor was under 30 inches of water.

Their home has flooded 14 times since 1979, usually to a depth of about 18 inches, becoming more frequent in recent years.

After replacing plasterwork and all the kitchen's electrical equipment, Mr Oram said he had lost any hope of a prevention scheme being put in place before this winter.

"Water from the River Severn backs up Hatfield Brook and the M5 sends its water into the brook as well," he said.

"We understand there's a scheme to put a barrier across the brook and we felt it could be put into operation to prevent further flooding this year. The Government was very clear that it didn't want a repeat of last year's floods.

"We've been in touch with the Environment Agency and we keep getting told a report is coming, but they aren't very hopeful because of the cost."

Seven hundred people in the village signed a petition calling for flood alleviation measures and this was presented to West Worcestershire MP Sir Michael Spicer, who passed it on to the Environment Agency.

A meeting about flood prevention in Kempsey was planned for May, but the Agency called it off because a feasibility study was not ready.

The report by consulting engineers was finally received by the Agency last week and spokesman Malcolm Boardman said it was being checked.

"We were looking into various options for preventing flooding in Kempsey, but there isn't a lot of comfort in the report. I hope they won't be too disappointed," he said.

Parish council chairman Joy Clee said she was pleased a report was imminent.

"I hope the residents involved will also receive a copy so we can discuss it with them and explore every avenue. We're all hoping for a resolution to this flooding problem," she said.