HOMEOWNERS in Sedgeberrow will not have to keep an anxious eye on the weather this Christmas after completion of a £750,000 flood prevention scheme.

The new Cheltenham Road bridge over the River Isbourne, has been opened after a scheme funded by the Environment Agency.

The old bridge, identified as a fording point of the river in Anglo-Saxon times and also the site of neolithic finds, had a narrow arch which caused water to build up and flood in Easter 1998, affecting 40 homes.

The new bridge, which has been brick-clad to avoid a modern appearance, has a 14m clear span, twice that of the old structure, and is designed to withstand a once-in-a-century flood.

This type of flood would affect around 63 village houses and the works are expected to have a significant impact on home insurance policies for affected households.

"It's great to see this project completed," said Anthony Perry, the Environment Agency's lower Severn flood risk manager.

"It's a really good example of a simple, carefully-engineered and designed solution benefiting a whole community."

Electricity and water services, which ran through the old bridge, also had to be diverted during the works, which were monitored by an archaeologist.

The scheme did not qualify for central government funding and was among the first to be funded by the Environment Agency's regional flood defence committee, which is itself funded annually by local authorities.

Worcestershire County Council, which owns the bridge, pledged £130,000 towards the project, which also saw environmental enhancements carried out.

The materials from the old bridge, built in 1880 and rebuilt in 1897 and 1931, were sent for recycling.