WORCESTER’S new flood defence is complete – but work will still be going on at the site for many months yet while the finishing touches are applied.

The Environment Agency (EA) said the jobs being carried out now on the bund are cosmetic and seasonal, but members of the public could be jeopordising its final appearance if they keep breaking in behind the barriers.

The agency has put up fencing, which could be in place for months yet, for safety reasons and to help let the grass grow. It wants people to refrain from using the area.

While the new foot and cycle path has just been completed, trees will not be planted and lighting installed until later in the year.

Phil Foxley, EA project manager, said he did not want to rush the scheme which he hopes will be an improvement on the previous parkland.

“It just takes time to get all of the bits and pieces together,” he said.

“We want this to be a quality scheme which the people of Worcester will appreciate, and not just the people it is defending.”

We previously reported in your Worcester News how the bund was due to be completed by the beginning of last month.

Mr Foxley said while the site looks unfinished to the untrained eye, the bund itself is complete and ready to protect people, while everything else was in hand.

“The fencing is up to protect the seeds until they have been established.

“We don’t want people walking on it and there are also health and safety issues while people remain working on the site.”

A Worcestershire County Council spokesman said the lighting will be installed later in the year and Mr Foxley said trees will be planted in the autumn.

But it could be up to two years before the public sees the trees bear leaves.

Work on the 560-metre earth barrier, which stretches from the last house on the riverside of Hylton Road to opposite Chequers Lane, started at the end of last July.

The defence, which also includes a brick wall, has been put up to protect more than 10 homes and several businesses from the river Severn and should keep Hylton Road open to traffic in all but the most severe floods.

Mr Foxley said an opening ceremony is planned for Friday, June 26.