Flood risk river reduced to a trickle

Residents have campaigned long and hard to protect their town from the threat of flooding.

But on Tuesday the River Uck virtually dried up.

Uckfield Town Council member Duncan Bennett was walking near the Roller Mill at about 6pm when he noticed there was hardly any water in the river.

He contacted the Environment Agency which sent teams to investigate.

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They discovered automatic sluices at Hempstead Mill upstream had jammed, reducing the flow to a trickle.

Engineers worked on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.

An agency spokesman said: 'The river is now recharged and has returned

to its normal flow level.'

Cllr Bennett said: 'The agency was very quick and people were there within two hours.

'The Uck seems to be OK 99 per cent of the time, then running low .5 per cent and all hell breaking loose for the remaining .5 per cent.

'We are concerned though about automatic sluices where there is no-one to keep an eye on river flow.

'If they get jammed or blocked with a piece of wood we have real problems.'