Flood alert upgrades will 'better protect people'

Improvements have been made to a flood warning service in Lincolnshire, officials have said.

The Environment Agency said the changes included expanding the service to reach hundreds more people, along with work to make alerts in Grantham, Boston, Lincoln and Market Rasen more accurate.

It comes after a number of recent flood events across the county, including in January when more than 30 flood warnings were in place.

Residents have been urged to sign up for the service.

David Manby, flood resilience team leader at the Environment Agency, said: "We have been working hard to improve the accuracy and the reach of our flood warning service to better protect people."

The changes include a new flood warning area covering the South Forty-Foot Drain in Boston, as well as splitting the River Witham flood warning area in Grantham to ensure better accuracy.

According to the Environment Agency, data from the January flooding showed that some Grantham residents received flood warnings, despite not being impacted - meaning they were unnecessarily disturbed.

More than 800 homes have now been moved to a new "wider" flood warning zone, a spokesperson added.

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