'We do feel abandoned'

Worsening floods threaten future of historic Tenbury

- Helena Horton Environment reporter

Walking through the centre of Tenbury Wells is like stepping into a postcard.

The independent shops are painted in cheerful colours and flowers spill out of planters. Bunting festoons the lampposts and the pubs are full, their steamed-up windows glowing orange.

You would not know that, just a few months ago, the Worcestershire town was a wreck, swamped by flood water, with windows smashed and shops gutted. The inhabitants have worked hard to make it pristine again, a vision of the England seen on chocolate boxes and in Christmas films.

But speak to the people who own the shops and you see the misery through the stiff upper lips. Insurers have abandoned Tenbury, which means one more flood could bankrupt the town.

"One more flood and I'm leaving," said Richard Sharman, a florist, whose shop on the corner of the high street was flooded four times last year. "I can't get contents insurance, I can't afford to rebuild if we flood again, and my lease is up at the end of December, so I just won't renew it."

Sharman refurbished the shop two years ago when he moved in. Soon, it could join the small but growing number of abandoned and derelict buildings on the high street.

Climate breakdown is thought to be a driver behind the increasing frequency of severe flooding in Tenbury, which sits between the River Teme and the Kyre brook.