Sandbags will be used to help manage new flood risks after a West Cumbrian building collapsed into a river.
The Old Courthouse on Cockermouth’s Main Street collapsed into the River Cocker on October 8, forcing the closure of Cocker Bridge.
Much of the rubble from the collapse has remained in the river since, causing concern over increased flood risks.
The Environment Agency said today it was monitoring the situation and that a sandbag wall would be created to block floodwater entering the town ahead of rain expected later this week.
A spokesman said: “We know the community will be concerned about the impact of the Honest Lawyer building collapse on flood risk to Cockermouth.
“We would like to reassure you that we have extra staff at this location assessing any impact on flood risk and making plans to manage any additional risk if needed.
“We are monitoring the weather forecast closely. Before this rainfall, we will be testing the use of sandbags to block any possible routes where we consider flood water could flow into the town at the Honest Lawyer location.
“This will help us understand where we need to build sandbag walls in advance of the rain currently forecast for later this week and in the future as needed. The sandbag walls will be taken down when they are no longer needed, but the sandbags will remain on site for any future use.”
The sandbags will then be replaced by stoplogs – aluminium bars that stop the flow of flood water – in the coming months if they are required.
The bars will be removed at a later date if they are used and the agency said it has spoken to affected property owners and landowners.
The spokesman said: “We will continue to work with Cumberland Council as they put in place plans to manage the stability of the building. We will re-evaluate our plans to manage flood risk as needed.
“We are not currently planning to remove the rubble in the river from the Honest Lawyer building, having carefully assessed its impact on flood risk. We will re-assess this if the building collapses further.
“We are developing plans to remove the rubble if our assessment of its impact on flood risk changes.”
Long term, the agency is set to review the structural integrity of the flood risk management scheme in the town and repair it where necessary.
It is also considering the current standard of protection that the scheme offers and is looking at potential improvements, both in the town and the wider catchment.
The agency is the lead authority for managing the flood risk from the Rivers Derwent and Cocker in the town and Cumberland Council are the lead authority for the building’s stability and for health and safety issues relating to the partial collapse.
