Man in car rescued from flood water in Shropshire

Image caption, A car was struck at Strefford during the night

Firefighters spent more than an hour rescuing a man from a car which was stuck due to flood water in Shropshire.

A boat was used to reach the man at Strefford, between Church Stretton and Craven Arms, at about 00:30 GMT.

Another man was released from a car near Wellington, Telford, at 07:55 GMT in a rescue which took about 20 minutes.

A child and another man also became stuck at the same spot at Walcot Bridge, near Wellington, minutes later.

'Torrent of water'

The fire service said it was called to Strefford to reports of a man "trapped in fast flowing flood water who had attempted to cross a ford".

Rescue teams "were met with a torrent of water and a car stuck facing up stream underneath a footbridge".

Station manager Neil Griffiths said: "The situation was extremely dangerous and this was highlighted by the vehicle being washed away as soon as the driver was rescued."

Water levels on the River Severn peaked at Welsh Bridge, Shrewsbury, at lunchtime and at Buildwas during the afternoon.

Temporary flood barriers at Frankwell, Shrewsbury, were removed, the Environment Agency said.

A spokeswoman said a "handful" of properties had flooded in Shropshire in the last few days.

She said: "We expect the situation to improve over the next few days.

"There was very little rain overnight and we have little to no rain forecast through to the weekend."

A landslip closed one of the main roads into the Ironbridge Gorge.

The road into Coalbrookdale was shut between Jiggers Bank roundabout and the bottom of Cherry Tree Hill. Telford and Wrekin Council said it would remain closed on Thursday.

The road at Walcot Mill between The Grove Inn and Rodington was also shut.