Blair visits flood-hit areas

Prime Minister Tony Blair today donned Wellington boots and a raincoat for a morale-boosting visit to some of Britain's worst hit flood areas.

Prime Minister Tony Blair today donned Wellington boots and a raincoat for a morale-boosting visit to some of Britain's worst hit flood areas.

He met residents in Shrewsbury, in Shropshire, and in Bewdley, Worcestershire, where he surveyed the stricken town from the main bridge over the swollen River Severn.

But as he spoke to locals, weathermen predicted more rain and say the situation will worsen over the next 48 hours.

Rain again wept over the country, swelling rivers already at bursting point.

In Dover, 10,000 families were told to boil drinking water after flooding was blamed for contaminating supplies with bacteria.

Water services along the coast said rationing might be introduced in coming days.

Fourteen severe flood warnings on nine rivers were in place, with rivers in Yorkshire, northern England, and the River Severn, in the west, the chief areas of concern.

Overnight, levels continued to rise along the Severn, with hundreds of families evacuated from their homes in nearby villages.

At Shrewsbury, on the Severn, the town centre was inaccessible and the main bridge dissecting the city was closed.

The River Derwent at Stamford Bridge, East Yorkshire, peaked at 9.85 metres - the highest ever recorded.

Driving in the south of England and Wales was treacherous, with severe delays on highways due to flooding.

"We are already dealing with floods which, in geographical extent, are probably the most widespread since the great floods of 1947 and in some places as severe," said Sir John Harman, the Environmental Agency's chairman while visiting some of the worst-hit areas in Yorkshire and the Midlands.

"The misery is set to continue," he added.

The Environment Agency said at least 3,000 properties have been badly hit by flooding across the country.

York city officials said its flood defence systems had protected many historic monuments from widespread damage.

But high waters were still threatening the Archbishop of York's official residence, Bishopthorpe Palace, where the cellars were completely flooded and workers were trying to remove old manuscripts and robes.

Patients were evacuated from Worcester Royal Infirmary's Castle Street site today when the basement flooded.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said rising water levels on the nearby River Severn meant electricity and heating supplies could not be guaranteed.

A total of 67 patients recuperating from orthopaedic, head and neck surgery, would be transferred to wards at the Infirmary's Ronkswood and Newtown sites.

All non-urgent surgery was being cancelled at Ronkswood and Newtown and at the Alexandra Hospital, Redditch, today and tomorrow to accommodate patients from Castle Street.

Bosses said a review of the situation at Castle Street would be carried out tomorrow afternoon.

Several hundred people gathered to meet Mr Blair including campaigners from the Independent Kidderminster Hospital and Health Concern group, with many waving banners and jeering the Labour leader during his 15-minute walkabout.

Gillian Holland, 57, a self-employed horticultural propagator, who is not connected with the activists but whose Jacobean house dating from 1623 is currently under water, spoke to the Prime Minister for several minutes.

She thanked Mr Blair for coming but said residents were more concerned about the fate of the hospital.

Mrs Holland said: "I just said to him we've seen floods in Bewdley before. The floods will go but concerns over the hospital will stay."

John Gordon, chairman of Wyre Forest District Council and leader of the campaign group, said he did not raise the hospital issue but instead spoke about the concerns of inundated residents.

"I thanked him for coming but put it to him that insurance companies were threatening to withdraw insurance claims from flood-prone areas. I believe this is a matter of huge concern if we are to have global warming," he said.

"This is a question which needs to be addressed by government."

Mr Blair then left in a Range Rover to pick up a helicopter flight to Shrewsbury in neighbouring Shropshire.

He is also expected to visit York.