Fiskerton residents told to stay away amid continued fears of River Witham flooding

Residents of around 80 village homes that were evacuated amid fears a river could burst its banks have been advised to stay away.

The Environment Agency is continuing to monitor the River Witham at Fiskerton, near Lincoln, after villagers were told to leave on Wednesday.

Speaking on Friday afternoon a Lincolnshire County Council spokesperson said: "We would encourage those residents who have evacuated – around 80 homes – to stay away from their properties at this stage.

"Extra work is being done by the Environment Agency to install monitoring equipment so they can make sure that timely warnings can be issued to residents should the situation deteriorate.

"Once these assurances are in place, we will be able to support residents to return to their homes, with advice on how to prepare for a short notice evacuation if the bank gets worse or breaches."

Two sections of the river bank, totalling around 50m, have been damaged following heavy rain during Storm Babet.

The village hall has been open to help affected residents and flooded roads have been closed.

Andy Toone, who runs the Carpenters Arms pub in Fiskerton, said trade had dropped off as people stayed away.

In a post on Facebook, he said the community spirit in the village had been "incredible".

But he added: "The pub as a business has taken the hit with local news and some social media posts basically saying it’s a no go zone.

"We’ve had 95% of bookings cancel this week as they’ve heard the village has been evacuated. I spoke to a lady yesterday who cancelled a party of 10 as they had heard all about the floods.

"We normally do 50 meals tonight but all but four have cancelled. It’s a tough time for us all."

The council said the water level on the river remains high, but is expected to continue to drop.

Although further rain is forecast, the weather forecast for the next few days is better than expected.

The spokesperson said: "We understand that some residents wish to remain in their properties and would encourage them to continue checking the Lincolnshire Resilience Forum website and social media for any updates."

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