TOWN leaders want Severnside North in Bewdley to be pedestrianised as part of a £2 million Environment Agency scheme to put up flood barriers.

Members of Bewdley Town Council gave the thumbs-up to the plans, which involve erecting removable steel barriers along Severnside North, with the added recommendation at their meeting on Monday night.

Work on the year-long scheme will begin in September if approval is granted by Wyre Forest District Council's planning (development control) committee at its next meeting.

It will involve a permanent wall being built along Dog Lane and the neighbouring car park, with underground foundations being laid for a steel barrier which can be swiftly erected on Severnside North at times of flooding.

The town council's planning committee chairman Frank Palmer told his colleagues they needed to consider the disruption, environmental impact, amount of work required and the length of time the project would take.

"It's very difficult to go against the scheme, although I'm going to feel very, very sorry for those people living on Severnside North," he added.

However he warned the barrier, which would be up to 2.7 metres high, would not be enough to protect floods as bad as those seen in 1947 - and that a "tidal wave" could result if water topped the line of defence.

John Iles said the Environment Agency had done "an awful lot of homework" on the scheme, adding it was important the council pressed for protection on the Wribbenhall side of the river, which is not mooted in current plans.

Ian Read said: "I was vehemently against this at the start but I have been convinced by the professionals."

He said the scheme was too good to vote against and was keen for pedestrianisation of Severnside North to be made part of the plans.

The Environment Agency's national board chairman Sir John Harman will be among several board members visiting Bewdley on Wednesday for a demonstration of the barriers.

Meanwhile, the country's first ever flood defence trade fair held in the town on Saturday was a success.

Organiser Gill Holland, of Bewdley Residents Flood Committee, said there were 34 stands and about 400 visitors from all over the country.

She is planning to hold another fair in Gloucester in the end of August.