Businesses “left in limbo” over flood support, says MP
The floods which hit Bradford on Avon in November 2024 completely closed the town centre
Last updated 25th Nov 2025
Flood-hit businesses in Bradford on Avon have been “left in limbo” a year after the town was devastated by Storm Bert a year ago this week, the town’s MP says.
Melksham and Devizes MP Brian Mathew has written to Emma Hardy MP, the government’s minister for flooding, saying that residents and businesses are still waiting for answers – and action.
The floods which hit Bradford on Avon in November 2024 completely closed the town centre, businesses were left underwater, and roads became impassable.
The incident followed flooding in January the same year, which was described as the “worst since 2013.”
In July this year, residents were told that a proposed £11 million flood scheme for the town was “unviable.” The Environment Agency said the scheme would not necessarily protect the town from flooding.
In his letter to the minister, Mr Mathews pointed out that no government recovery support was triggered, even though similar help was provided elsewhere in Wiltshire after other storms.
MP said he had been told government expected local authorities to respond to localised flooding incidents within their existing budgets.
However, Wiltshire Council told him it is unable to directly provide any funding and is reliant on central government declaring a flood event and providing funding that they than administer.
“Many independent businesses, particularly in Bradford on Avon’s historic town centre, feel they have fallen between the gaps,” he said.
Mr Mathews sought clarification that businesses, as well as households, would be supported following flooding incidents.
And he repeated an invitation for the minister to visit Bradford on Avon to ” see first-hand the impact repeated flooding is having on local people.”
And he told constituents, “this can’t continue.” And he pledged: “I’ll continue pushing until we get the answers and the support, our area needs.”