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| Cockermouth hopes to avoid repeat of 2009 floods with new flood barriers | |
| (about 7 hours later) | |
| The UK's first self-closing flood barriers have been installed to protect a Lake District town hit by devastating flooding. | |
| The £4.4m scheme has been put in place in the Cumbrian town of Cockermouth, where the automatic barriers aim to prevent a repeat of the floods in 2009, when a month's rain fell in 24 hours, destroying 900 homes and forcing hundreds of people to evacuate. | |
| The scheme, which officially opens on Tuesday, has been designed to be unobtrusive so that it protects Cockermouth's Georgian heritage and keeps the town attractive to tourists. The centrepiece is a 120m self-closing barrier that rises only when the river is in flood, preserving views of the river the rest of year. | |
| The measures also include stretches of glass panels, raised embankments and flood gates, while existing riverside structures have been strengthened so they could be incorporated into the defences. The Environment Agency (EA) said the scheme will protect 400 homes and businesses. | |
| The scheme has been funded in partnership with the local community, with the EA putting in £3.3m and £1.1m of contributions by residents and businesses, local councils and community groups. | |
| It is one of a number of new projects using partnership funding, introduced in 2010 by the government to make flood protection spending go further by raising contributions from local communities to enable more defences to be built. | |
| David Rooke, director of flood risk management at the EA, said: "Cockermouth was devastated by flooding in 2009 and the opening of this scheme is a new chapter for the town. | |
| "Protecting Cockermouth residents from flood was hugely important, but it was also important that the scheme was sympathetic to the historical surroundings and did not impact on the local tourist trade which is so vital to the town's economy." | |
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