FUNDING of £1.8 million for property-level flood defences in Tenbury has been slated as a "fob off" by "furious" locals.

Prevention work to protect 200 homes in the town with individual property flood resilience (PFR) was set to be scrapped by the Environment Agency due to a lack of cash.

But after last-minute lobbying by politicians, a regional flood committee has agreed to find £1.8 million for the scheme.

Tenbury county councillor Justin Bowen welcomed the news as "the best result we could have hoped for" - but Richard Franklin, chairman of Tenbury Wells Flood Action Group, said the town was "furious" and had been "shot in the head by the Environment Agency."

He said that it had previously been promised a £16m scheme creating flood defences for the whole town, which is desperately needed.

Richard said the Environment Agency (EA) has already spent around £3 to £4m on surveys for the scheme.

He said: "£1.8m is under 12 per cent of what had been promised.

"The EA has shot us in the head in relation to the flood scheme itself.

"The cost rose to £25m but it met the criteria in terms of the benefit of the scheme for the town - for every £1 spent it has to bring more than £1 benefit and Tenbury passed that.

"We need proper flood defences for the whole town, not just individual properties. This is a fob off.

"It's something myself and the town have been working on for 20 years.

"Early last week we were getting zilch, now we're getting £1.8m because MP Dame Harriett Baldwin got involved. The town is furious. It's bad enough being let down once.

"They keep saying the scheme to protect the whole town has not been scrapped, but I don't believe a word of it."

Richard said many businesses are uninsured as they are quoted excesses of around £20k.

Mike Jenner, chairman of the Tenbury Flood Support Group, said he was "highly sceptical" at the news.

He said: "I will wait till we see the colour of the money.""We are a political ping pong ball - the community has not seen a penny - yet allegedly millions has already been spent on all the surveys."

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: "We recognise the distressing impact that flooding has had on Tenbury Wells.

"The Environment Agency remains committed to improving flooding resilience in the area and we are working with all partners on how this can be taken forward.

"No final decisions have yet been made on the Property Flood Resilience (PFR) funding for Tenbury Wells.

"We are committed to ensuring value for money and projects which are currently in construction are being prioritised for funding in 2026/7.

"Other schemes will be assessed against the Government's new funding rules and may be delivered in later years of the programme."