A FLOODED county road should be raised in order to save the town nearby, a councillor has said.

Cllr Martin Allen has called for Hanley Road, in Upton Upon Severn to be raised after repeated flooding has seen it closed and re-opened.

Cllr Allen is calling for action to be taken with fellow councillors and even West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin all saying something should be done.

Calling for a meeting with council highways chief Cllr Alan Amos, he said: "It’s time to put People before politics and to take the politics out of the Hanley Road problem, I am calling for a meeting of minds so that an agreement can be made on the way forward.

“It seems reasonable to me that the local councillors Andrea Morgan, Paul Middlebrough and myself with our MP and Sarah Rouse who is the leader of MHDC should have a virtual meeting with Mr Amos to discuss what the County Council are going to do about the Hanley Road.

“If Cllr Amos of Worcestershire County Council is willing to meet us via Zoom, we could all be brought up to speed as to current thinking, what the county councils plan is to tackle this problem.

“I don’t pretend it’s going to be easy, there will be many technical challenges and maybe raising the road by 6-inches is all that can be achieved.

“But even that would stop the road being out of action for so long each time it rains. As Councillors we have a duty to plan ahead and act. Now is the time for action”

Hanley Road has regularly been flooded, with highways teams from Worcestershire County Council regularly having to keep it closed many times during the winter.

In April last year, Mrs Baldwin confirmed county engineers would be investigating possibly raising the road.

She said: “It has always been a long-term ambition of mine to identify a workable permanent solution and while the county is assessing further work at Powick and preparing for a new roundabout at the A38, I have asked the highways team to have a proper look at the Hanley Road raising.”

Councillor Tony Miller, cabinet member with responsibility for the environment said: “Our recent investment into flood alleviation in Upton-Upon-Severn has helped the town remain open for business.

"Key roads in and out of Upton that would have flooded and been inaccessible during the floods both last week and last February were able to remain open thanks to the recent road raising scheme. 

"We appreciate residents and local member concerns and suggestions about how to improve the situation at Hanley Road during flood events, and this is something we are reviewing.”