Weeks of dry weather spark waterway fears

Weeks of dry weather have sparked drought fears across the Midlands - with the River Severn almost running dry in parts.

These pictures show how the water level of one of the Midlands' main waterways has dipped alarmingly in Bridgnorth from its usual buoyant levels, mirroring the picture for other rivers in the region.

Half as much water is flowing through them as in the great drought of 1976, experts said today. And river flows on the Severn are the second lowest on record for this time of year.

Less than 1mm of rain has fallen across the country in the last week, compounding the long-term shortage, while the recent warm spell has also hit water levels, the Environment Agency said today.

Bridgnorth town councillor Geoff Bodenham desc-ribed the river as "worr- yingly low". "We're concer-ned about a drought and wa-ter shortages but the river keeps rolling along," he said.

"When it starts raining in Wales, the level quickly rises. I've known it flood twice in the last 10 years but that's not going to happen this year."

Councillor Connie Baines agreed. "I noticed it was low yesterday as I drove across it but we rely on the good old British weather to fill it up again," she said.

Severn Trent Water and South Staffordshire Water both today moved to reassure customers there were no plans for a hosepipe ban. However contingency plans are in place to transfer water to affected areas which are running dry.

The Severn's current flow rate is 21.4 cubic metres per second. During the last major drought of 1976 the river recorded a monthly average of 40.6. Local exp-erts say populations of fish are falling dramatically.