villagers have welcomed a flood protection project which made them more secure.

Walkhampton residents have hailed as a success the partnership between the Environment Agency (EA) and other bodies which has made them feel safer.

The EA has funded Natural Flood Management (NFM) works, delivered by the Westcountry Rivers Trust, in the water catchment area above Walkhampton.

This has significantly reduced flood water rushing off the surrounding farmland, down Black Brook, to the lowest point of the village. Residents often needed to put out sandbags in response to heavy rain forecasts.

But they now have confidence their properties will be safe.

Peter Shapcott, who lives next to the flood defences in the lowest point in the village, said: ‘We all have nothing but praise for the EA. They’ve worked with the farmers to reduce the run-off the fields by various means, including planting trees and frequent management.

‘The water in the stream used to be muddy from coming off the fields, now it’s clear. I don’t worry now about the weather forecasts of rain because I know we won’t have any problems with flooding.’

An EA spokesman said: ‘The primary aim of these works is to slow the flow within the river, increasing the amount of time it takes rainfall to reach the community and therefore reducing the impact of a flood.’

Walkhampton resident Ven Nick Shutt, Archdeacon of Plymouth, said: ‘Ongoing work by many agencies gives us huge confidence.’

The works in the Walkhampton catchment comprised of a variety of techniques, including working with farmers and landowners to improve the health of their soils through physical measures. Also giving advice on cow and sheep management to reduce run-off.

The projects include creating ‘leaky’ stone dams in streams above Walkhampton to control flow.

Streams and flood water in vulnerable areas have been diverted into planted areas which store excess water.

The works were funded through the Dartmoor Headwaters Pilot project, part of a national pilot to test the effectiveness of NFM.

An EA spokesman said work is underway to unlock further funding from government to continue the Dartmoor Headwaters project. This project, jointly run by the EA and Dartmoor National Park Authority, will work on catchments across the moor to reduce flood risk and provide wider environmental and water quality benefit — to include further improvements in the Walkhampton water catchment area.