A WORCESTER flood warden is leading a chorus of appeals for a multi-million pound weir investment to alleviate flooding.

Bryan Griffin believes installing controllable sluice gates in all five weirs between Worcester and Gloucester would allow floodwaters to pass downstream.

This would avoid the catastrophic peaks Worcester experienced before Christmas.

Mr Griffin, a retired civil and structural engineer, makes regular recordings of the river level north of Worcester bridge at his home in King Stephen's Mount.

At its highest, the river is 2ft 2in higher than the level at Diglis, which Mr Griffin attributes to the damming effect of the bridge.

Clearing this of silt and installing retractable sluice gates would help reduce the peaks, he believes.

"If you knew that the water was coming down from Shrewsbury, you'd have 48 hours to open the sluices and take 2ft out of the flooding, and it would be as safe as houses," claimed Mr Griffin.

He is also concerned that trees along the riverbank are holding back mud and debris, and impeding the water flow.

"When the flow slows down, it allows the water to deposit silt. We should be having open river banks without trees to stop this problem," he said.

His calls have been backed by Diglis riverman Mark Holtham, who has worked on the Severn for more than 20 years.

"If we had had controlled sluices, we could have dropped a lot of water between the two floods," he said.

"You could get rid of a much greater volume of water than with the present weirs.

Problem

"It's not a cure. Part of the problem is people want a cure, but this is not an immovable feast."

Earlier this month, the county council agreed to contribute £2,217,600 into a £30m Midlands flood defences pot - a 12 per cent increase on its levy last year.