Flooding work finally completed

The hole at Ross-on-Wye has now been drilled

A 1,148ft (350m)-long tunnel has been built underneath a Herefordshire town to prevent future flooding.

The tunnel beneath Ross-on-Wye is part of a £7m flood alleviation scheme for the town, which was badly flooded during the summer of 2007.

The tunnel, which begins at the Horns Road car park and ends at the Kings Acre car park, will divert flood water from streams into the River Wye.

It took 11 months to build and had been planned since the floods in 2000.

'Fighting for years'

A giant boring machine was used to dig the tunnel.

Earth from the tunnel has been used to create a 5.6ft (1.7m)-high earth embankment to the east of the A40 which will absorb water when river levels are high.

County councillor Phil Cutter said he hoped the work could lead to more development in the town.

He said: "We've been fighting for this for years and years and years to see if we can alleviate the problem, because the land that has been affected in the past has been industrial land.

"It's also affected some residential areas, so we're hoping some more development can take place in these areas."