Villagers gripped by flooding fears

Police were called upon to alert some sleeping residents of Church Hill Gardens to the possibility that the rising River Lagan might invade their homes.

According to Dromara Councillor Paul Stewart, had the rain persisted through the night, some homes could not have escaped flooding.

Mr. Stewart and Lagan Valley MLA Edwin Poots were on the ground in Dromara in the early hours of the morning, inspecting the rising River Lagan at Church Hill Gardens after hearing from worried locals.

There they met police to discuss growing fears.

Said Mr. Stewart, “After receiving some calls from around the constituency regarding flooding we were most concerned about Dromara Village, where water levels increased rapidly and our foremost concern was for some residents in Church Hill Gardens.

“If rain had continued throughout the night some homes would have most definitely have been flooded.

“We took the decision to ring the PSNI in the early hours of the morning to ask them to alert residents, who were sleeping and therefore needed to be alerted to the matter.

“The rain stopped at around 3am and therefore allowed water levels to drop.”

Mr. Stewart thanked police and Roads Service for their quick response.

He added an appeal to drivers to take care in future on potentially flooded rural roads.