WORRIED residents in a flood-hit part of north Essex are bracing themselves for a further deluge.

Villagers of Wakes Colne and Chappel saw roads disappear under an “impassable” amount of water after weeks of heavy rain saw the River Colne burst its banks.

Now residents fear the thaw which will follow the heavy snow will spark more floods.

Alexandra Woolmore, 39, who lives on the river in the Wakes Colne mill, says the flooding is getting worse and is happening more often.

She said: “What worries me is the snow thawing. Snow is water and it will melt and cause a huge problem when it flows in to the river.

“We’ve had about 15 to 20cms of snow so far and if all that melts in one go it could be quite a catastrophe.

“Over the past few years, myself and others in the community have noticed that the flooding is becoming more frequent and faster to rise.

Gazette: Flooded - the River Colne after it burst its banks as villagers brace themselves for more of the same Pictures: Alexandra WoolmoreFlooded - the River Colne after it burst its banks as villagers brace themselves for more of the same Pictures: Alexandra Woolmore

“Plans need to be in place now, before property is damaged - not in response to an inevitable flood event.”

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said water levels on the river have not been consistently this high for at least ten years.

The agency usually expects to see flooding in the area about once every five years, but this winter there have been a number of floods with no time in between for the river to recover.

Gazette: Flooded - the River Colne after it burst its banks as villagers brace themselves for more of the same Pictures: Alexandra WoolmoreFlooded - the River Colne after it burst its banks as villagers brace themselves for more of the same Pictures: Alexandra Woolmore

The spokesman added: “After months of prolonged rainfall, river catchments across East Anglia are saturated.

“In December, parts of Essex received double the amount of rain they’d normally receive.

“With a succession of storms in January, continuing into February, there is limited capacity in the rivers to drain flood waters away.

“Whilst dredging rivers is an important part of our overall maintenance programme, we don’t believe this would be the case on the River Colne.

“The former mills on the Colne have a marginal impact on flood risk which is why in recent years we have been handing back the upkeep of the mill gates to the owners.”