WORK will begin this week to improve Weardale’s flood defences.

The Environment Agency will work to raise some sections of Stanhope’s defences along the River Wear to improve flood protection to more than 100 homes that are at risk.

Chris Wotherspoon, project manager at the Environment Agency, said: “The work we are starting in Stanhope this week will significantly improve flood protection for the town.

“The improvements we are making to the flood walls will ensure that the standard of protection is consistent along the river. The work will also improve the condition of some of the defences.”

Almost two dozen buildings were flooded in Stanhope in January 1995, when river levels rose following heavy rainfall.

The Environment Agency constructed new flood defences to limit the damage caused by heavy lots of rain in January of 2005, when the Wear reached higher levels at Stanhope than in 1995.

For more information on local flood risk, visit gov.uk/government/organisations/environmentagency .