Flood defences saved our town says councillor

Would they work? Could the expense be justified?

According to one councillor, they have already saved the town on several occasions.

County Councillor Bill Aron says that was definitely the case last weekend.

During heavy rain, the defences - on the River Bain near Hemingby - hold water back and flood fields.

The huge lake shows how much water was prevented from flowing downstream into Horncastle.

Coun Aron said: “The Bain was very high and it’s a frightening site when it comes rushing through the town.

“But it didn’t ‘over-top’ and that’s because of the flood defences. They did a fantastic job.”

There were reports of some roads flooding, including the A158 between Hagworthingham and Sausthorpe.

Vast acres of agricultural land were also under water - as our picture at the bottom of this page shows.

That was the scene at Belchford on Sunday morning as the River Waring overflowed.

Twenty four hours, later and it was snow which was causing problems.

The photo (middle) shows police closing off the A158 to the west of Horncastle after it became impassible on Monday morning.

Thee main route to Louth (A153) was also blocked with reports of minor accidents and vehicles stranded on Cawkwell Hill.

A number of back roads were impassable and police warned drivers to ‘stay at home.’’

Snow continued to fall as gritting crews worked to re-open routes. The A158 re-opened on Monday afternoon but everyone was keeping a close watch on the weather.

Another concern was that the A153 is the route many people use for Covid-19 jabs at Louth Hospital.

•See page 23 for more weather photos, including two iconic buildings in Woodhall Spa.