A FULL investigation into the cause of Ilminster devastating floods has been launched by the county council, with the outcome to be published before the end of this year.

The town is still recovering after the flash floods which struck on July 23 and forced many businesses to close, with some shops still yet to reopen.

Last Monday, Somerset County Council flood management officers and councillors held a drop-in session for residents to share their experience of the latest floods and what may have caused them.

Now, the drop-in session has been announced as the first phase in a full investigation that will be undertaken, with the results due to be published before the end of this year.

A member of SCC’s flood risk management team said “We are very grateful to residents who took the time to meet and share thoughts and evidence on the flooding.

“The attendance at the meeting exceeded our expectations with at least 40 people and we are grateful to colleagues from Highways, South Somerset District Council and the Environment Agency for their support.

“We have taken receipt of a significant amount of very useful information that will help us complete our investigation. We are now reviewing this evidence and will prepare a report over the coming months that will be shared with the community.”

Past instances of flooding in the town have been attributed to the capacity of the historic culvert that carries the Shudrick stream, however, a number of people noted this was not at capacity during the floods.

During the drop-in session, many factors causing the floods were raised by resident, including; rainfall intensity, condition and maintenance of highway drainage, maintenance of the watercourse and culvert, size of the catchment area and the water that makes its way to Ditton Street from the surrounding area, and the ability of the existing infrastructure to cope with the volume of water.

An SCC spokesman added: “As a lead local flood authority, SCC has a duty under the Flood and Water Management Act to investigate flooding to “the extent that it considers it necessary or appropriate”. This is known as a Section 19 investigation, a reference to the relevant section of the Act.

“The need to investigate a particular flood is determined on a case-by-case basis considering factors such as the likely sources of the flood, the number of properties affected and the level of clarity on the roles and responsibilities for the flooding.

“We gave a commitment at the meeting that the investigation would be completed and published by the end of this year.”

New measures could be brought in as early as this year to help stop future flooding like this from happening again.

The investigation will be published online, at www.somerset.gov.uk/policies-and-plans/plans/flood-planning-and-investigations.