BEWDLEY seems set to become an insurance blackspot affecting even people whose homes are well out of the flood plain.

And the price of living in one of Worcestershire's most beautiful town's could be high for people wanting to sell their homes as a result of the recent floods.

The warning was given this week as insurance professionals and estate agents contemplated mounting opinion that flooding is no longer a one-off affair but marks a pattern for the future dictated by climate change.

Bewdley insurance broker Chris Wilde said he feared many insurance companies not prepared to spend time investigating real risks in local areas would operate a "postcode prejudice".

And difficulties in getting house insurance, he believed, were likely to have an effect on house prices in Bewdley because of the problems it would create for people seeking mortgages.

Mr Wilde, of BPW (Bewdley) Insurance , Load Street, said he knew of insurance companies "bending over backwards" to be flexible in their rules and help quickly victims of the present flooding.

He believed some would continue for a while to serve people who had existing cover. But there was a point where even the most loyal insurance companies would dig their heels in and decide "enough is enough".

Mr Wilde said: "There will be problems for anyone moving in and trying to obtain flood cover in order to get a mortgage.

"I would say it would be almost impossible for new people to get flood cover now and this situation could only be helped if there can be proof in future, from flood defence measures or whatever, that property is protected.

"One problem is that some insurance companies only look at the postcode when dealing directly with clients. So if your postcode is Bewdley, they just think "floods" whether your house is at risk or not."

He explained insurance was based on "fortuitous" occurrences that could not be forseen. But when disasters became regular events, that rule no longer held.

Mr Wilde said insurance premiums had risen sharply for a variety of reasons since 1998 and the second serious flooding in Bewdley since then would not help.

The Government has this week, however, warned insurers against further big increases in premiums for flood-risk properties and urged instead affordable cover.

Estate agent Nigel Clements said he believed it would become more difficult to sell properties on low land near the river.

He forecast there would always be people prepared to buy vulnerable homes in Bewdley and run the risk of flooding.

But he predicted a loss of "scarcity value" if, as he expected, there was a rash of house sale notices going up next summer.