Council defends film by Wallace & Gromit makers after Reform attacks

The £130,000 educational film was funded by a government grant to prevent and raise awareness of groundwater flooding.

The two-minute animated film, called A Mole’s Story, will be produced by Aardman Animations.

The county council, which is leading the project, has contributed £54,000 from its share of the government funding towards the project.

The film came under fire at the recent Reform UK conference in Lincolnshire, with leader Nigel Farage criticising the spending.

Andrea Jenkyns, the candidate for Greater Lincolnshire mayor, also described it as one of the “bad decisions” being made by current leaders.

However, the council says all the money has come from the national government rather than local taxpayers, and they are required to undertake education as part of the project.

Groundwater flooding occurs when the earth becomes saturated with water and can’t drain rain away quickly enough, such as during Storm Babet in 2023.

Chris Miller, head of environment at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “Lincolnshire County Council has received £7m from the government to lead a project to better understand groundwater flooding. No separate money from Lincolnshire County Council has been used.

“This project work will benefit Greater Lincolnshire residents as some of the pilot schemes aim to make improvements to local areas that have seen this complex form of flooding before.

“National education work is a requirement of the project, and is also being financed from this national funding, which has included commissioning video and other resources.”

Aardman Animations is the award-winning creator behind the Wallace & Gromit films, Shaun the Sheep, Chicken Run and Morph.

It has previously produced a short film on protecting homes from flooding, Missy’s Tale, which can be seen on the BeFloodReady website.