A FLOOD-RAVAGED school could now be protected from sudden deluges of water after being offered flood barriers.

Water giant Severn Trent has announced that it will give free barriers to Worcester's Cherry Orchard Primary School, which was engulfed by floodwater last July.

Headteacher Jeremy Harwood, who helped carry hundreds of terrified pupils to safety during the dramatic rescue operation, is delighted with the news.

"They are a great idea," he said.

"Some of the detail has still to be sorted out, because some of the means of fitting them doesn't seem very practical. There are practical difficulties, but it's brilliant that Severn Trent is willing to fund and advise on it.

"We'd be well advised to have precautions like this available to us.

"What we were asking was whether there were possibly alternative forms of barrier that would be less unwieldy to fit."

It has cost more than £100,000 to repair the damage caused to the school, in Timberdine Close, following the floods on Friday, July 20. All the carpets had to be ripped out and fitted furniture has been replaced.

At this week's St Peter's Parish Council meeting, Roger Knight, Worcester City Councillor and St Peter's councillor, said Severn Trent had now put the school on the "at risk" register and long-term solutions, such as increasing the sewerage capacity in the area, were being investigated.

Coun Knight said the barriers, which would sit in the doorways, would hold back water for two to three hours.

He said: "If you take the last episode, if we'd been able to hold it back for another half an hour it wouldn't have flooded.

"It postpones the flood for that period of time, which enables you to get the children out and all the essentials off the ground."