THE Environment Agency has been working in Ilkley this month to make improvements to flood defences damaged last winter.

The repairs have been taking place between the A65 and Backstone Way. Contractors for the Environment Agency have been inspecting and clearing the culvert that runs below the A65 Leeds Road, and the culvert that runs below the entrance to the Sacred Heart Primary School. Approximately 50 tonnes of material has been cleared from the culverts.

Culverts are structures that allow water to flow under roads or buildings and are usually a concrete pipe or made from other material like piping or brick. They need to be inspected regularly, because if damaged or blocked could cause a flood risk.

Work has also been completed upstream of the school to repair a bank that had been damaged by high water flows. The bank had been washed away around the headwall of the gravel trap, this has been repaired with approximately 14 gabion baskets to help protect the bank in future when water levels in the beck are high.

Lower down the beck by the A65, a wall that was damaged has been replaced with five gabion baskets to help protect an access track used to access and maintain the beck.

Tom Pardey, project manager at the Environment Agency said: “These works, which are part of our asset repair programme, are part of our aim to get all our defences back to standard for the winter season. We have been working closely with the community, businesses and partners across Yorkshire to help us achieve this.”