ANGER has greeted the Govenment's decision to snub Upton in favour of giving £6.5 million to Bewdley to beef up its flood defences.

The move has been attacked by district councillor Mary Wilkinson, who is angry that a proposal to raise the A4104 near Upton Marina, which was submerged when the town flooded last year, has not been considered worthy of support.

The cost of the work has been estimated at around £3 million by Mike Davies, manager of Worcestershire Highways Partnership.

"I'm not saying Bewdley should not have had the award," said Coun Wilkinson. "They have problems too.

"But it was here in Upton that John Prescott stood in his wellies, surrounded by water, and said that £51 million would be spent.

"Now we're told nothing can be done because Upton is on an alluvial plain. We know it's on an alluvial plain and there's nothing you can do to stop the Severn flooding, but half the problem is that we get cut off.

"We've got the biggest problem in the district. Not only are people cut off from the shops, which last year were chock full of goods two weeks before Christmas and people could not get in to buy them, but people are cut off from schools, doctors and everything else."

Coun Wilkinson pointed out that the new flood defences up river at Bewdley also meant the torrents of water would be even bigger by the time they reach Upton.

"I'm no expert but if you help that water run through Shrewsbury and Bewdley, where's it going to go?" she asked. "How can anyone possibly think the floodwater will come anywhere but Worcester and Upton?

"We have obviously missed the boat but I honestly don't know what more we could have done."

Despite the government's negative response, MP Sir Michael Spicer this week pledged to continue to fight for funding on behalf of the town.

He has reaffirmed his support for the idea of a pontoon bridge to straddle the dip in the road between the existing Upton Bridge and the marina. This would keep the traffic flowing during flooding and ensure that people on the Ryall side of the river were not cut off from the rest of the town.