BRIDGWATER'S new tidal barrier will enable many people to sleep easier in their homes – but routine dredging of waterways on the Somerset Levels must be maintained at all costs, says the local MP.

Ian Liddell-Grainger says while the £100million structure will provide protection against future flooding linked to sea level rise, that does not mean nature can be left to take its course across the 150,000 acres of the Somerset Levels.

The barrier over the River Parrett is expected to take around three years to build once work starts late in 2023.

It will hold back high tides to prevent river defences upstream being overtopped, protecting around 13,000 homes and some 1,500 businesses.

But Mr Liddell-Grainger, MP for Bridgwater and West Somerset, said he would continue to press for a full, routine dredging programme to be maintained along the rivers which drain the Levels.

“The barrier is going to offer an excellent solution to one set of problems but it is not a cure-all,” he said.

“Few people in the area can forget events of 2013 and 2014 after the Environment Agency had decided that expensive river dredging was unnecessary, turned its back on the lessons to be drawn from eight centuries of history, and instead bet the house on a flawed and untested piece of computer modelling.

“The consequence of reducing the capacity of the rivers was devastation on a scale not seen for more than 100 years and a bill for property owners, businesses, local authorities, insurers and the taxpayer running into many tens of millions.

“Yet I still hear voices raised within Defra questioning the need for an activity which has demonstrated its effectiveness through the absence of any further flooding since the dredging programme was reinstated.

“I applaud all the efforts that have been put into making the tidal barrier a reality and there is no doubt it has a vital role to play in reducing the flood risk in and around Bridgwater.

"But it only represents one weapon in the armoury that will be needed to keep the Levels flood-free in future.”