THE long awaited telemetric flood warning signs have been installed and are operational at Dipper Mill, Shebbear.

Torridge District Councillor for Coham Bridge, Conservative Philip Hackett, secured a grant from the Pathfinder Fund two years ago after a spate of incidents at river crossings at Sheepwash, Black Torrington and Dipper Mill bridges.

The ‘trigger’ event was the potentially fatal incident when a woman and her daughter tried to ford the floodwater after dark at Sheepwash Bridge. Their car was swept off the road and into the adjacent woods by the force of the current.

After failed attempts to rescue them by a helicopter, the terrified occupants, feeling the car beginning to move in the current, escaped via the sunroof and were pulled to safety by a fire brigade dingy.

There had been a previous incident near Black Torrington Bridge where a tractor driver had to be winched from the cab by a helicopter.

All three crossing points had seen numerous incidents over the years where cars had been written off by drivers entering floodwater.

Cllr Hackett felt that if drivers could be warned by flashing signs in advance of the bridges they would be encouraged to take an alternative safe route.

The Pathfinder Fund was started after Prime Minister David Cameron visited Devon in the wake of the severe storms in 2014.

Although it was for the coastal region, the fund holders agreed in principle an application for £20,000 capital funding to do all three crossings, subject to local support to maintain the installations.

The proposal was to site remote signs well away from the bridge to encourage motorists to turn back when they saw flashing signs warning of flooding. In addition sensor boxes at the bridge would send out text and email alerts to subscribers, with river levels also being shown on the internet.

Rich Clark, chairman of Shebbear Parish Council said: “Gone are the days when a white post stuck in the ground is an adequate warning. With residents needing to cross the River Torridge on a daily basis for work, the school run and so on, some way of giving them plenty of notice that the river is out was essential. With this new technology they can instantly see from the internet if they can find another route.”

Torridge District Councillor for Shebbear and Langtree, Conservative David Hurley, said: “This would allow flooding information to be available to emergency services so that police, fire, ambulances, doctors and mobile health carers would be able to know which routes were available during periods of potential flooding.

“Shebbear residents were extremely enthusiastic with a community Facebook page eager for the signs to be installed and the parish council at Shebbear took the decision at the first opportunity to seize the opportunity to have the signs and were proactive in attending site meetings with Hydrologic, Devon County Council and the Environment Agency.”

Although Black Torrington and Highampton Parish Councils and residents were in favour of the proposals, Sheepwash Parish Council, which is responsible for both Black Torrington and Sheepwash bridges, had concerns about the potential ongoing maintenance cost to the parish council, principally for the replacement of batteries approximately every three years.

Cllr Hackett said he was keen to secure funding to install the same signage at Black Torrington Bridge, to help eliminate risk to road users. He felt the danger still exists at Black Torrington Bridge and there is strong local support for the signs. A potential sponsor has come forward who is willing to maintain the signs.

There will be a full demonstration of the signs on Wednesday, March 9 at 2pm at the Devil’s Stone Inn, Shebbear. Residents are invited to see how the technology works and how they can register for email and text alerts, and access the information on the internet.