Essential flood prevention work in Norton has been delayed due to the recent heavy rainfall.

Norton Road, known as ‘Blackboards’, has been closed since the beginning of July to enable the Environment Agency to install a new flap valve to help improve the defences.

The work is scheduled to take two months.

An Environment Agency Spokesperson said: “We continue to carry out temporary work at Norton Road to reduce flood risk from the River Derwent.

"Unfortunately, due to heavy rainfall last weekend, we haven’t been able to install the new flap valve this week as planned as water levels are too high. We are closely monitoring the river level so we can resume work as soon as it has subsided, which we hope will be Monday 14 August. This essential work has required the road to be closed temporarily and we apologise for any inconvenience and thank the community for their patience while we complete this work.

“Over the next two weeks, we are installing a new flap valve on the outfall of the culvert that runs under Norton Road. This will improve the resilience of the Norton flood defences by preventing the River Derwent ‘backing-up’ into Mill Beck when the River Derwent is in flood.”

“The new flap valve has been designed to be eel and otter friendly by including features that keep the connectivity between the two watercourses. These include an otter door that opens during normal river conditions to allow eels and otters to move freely between the two areas.”