A FEARED backlash by Bewdley residents looks set to stop councillors from scrapping a 26-year emergency flood service.

Wyre Forest District Council had considered stopping the distribution of sandbags to people living alongside the River Severn - which has broken its banks 17 times in the last 10 years - after announcing that the service could cost up to £10,000 to continue.

But in a report to the council's policy and implementation committee, which is due to discuss its options at a meeting tonight, head of cultural, leisure and commercial services Andrew Dickens warned against withdrawing the provision.

He said even though the council did not have a "statutory duty" to provide sandbagging, people in Bewdley viewed it as an "essential service to the community".

He recommended a system of providing sandbags at a "central collection point" and distributing self-help leaflets to houses at risk of flooding in the town.

The council had been providing sandbags and clearing up the aftermath of floods since 1974, but has now declared it "no longer has the flexibility of resources" to continue.