A farmer who was jailed alongside drug sellers and rapists for bulldozing a riverbank has been hailed as a hero by villagers who insist his actions prevented flooding.
John Worth, 69, employed diggers and builders to cut down timber and dredge a mile-long stretch of the River Lugg close to Leominster, Herefordshire in 2020.
He claimed he had carried out so to assist shield locals within the close by hamlet whose houses had been devastated by flooding and to assist repair riverbed erosion.
However he was instructed by a choose he had dedicated ‘ecological vandalism on an industrial scale’ alongside a bit of certainly one of Britain’s most necessary salmon rivers.
The multimillionaire farmer was jailed for 10 months, decreased from 12 months after an enchantment, in April final 12 months and served lower than three months behind bars.
Mr Worth, of Kingsland, Herefordshire, was additionally ordered pay £1.2million in restoration prices after admitting seven prices of environmental harm.
Greater than 12 months on, residents have now revealed how Mr Worth is hailed by many as an area hero whose actions have been efficient in safeguarding houses.
John ‘Pudge’ Worth (pictured) is famend within the village of Kingsland, close to Leominster
Pictured: The river financial institution being cleared by farmer John Worth in 2020
Mr Worth was sentenced to 12 months in jail at Kidderminster Magistrates Court docket for harm triggered to the river Lugg (pictured) in Kingsland however villagers say he is a hero
Villagers say he has succeeded in stopping flooding the place the authorities failed and consider he was unfairly mistreated.
They stated that by realigning the river, Mr Worth has overcome a lot of the native flooding points which have been damaging Kingsland for many years.
Simon Powney, a retained firefighter, stated: ‘It seems to have been an enchancment.
‘The river has settled down and appears again to regular.
‘We’re not getting the flooding issues there that we had been. I’ve seen the way it does flood there, however within the final lot of rain we did not have any issues.
‘If the work wasn’t carried out, we might have had what occurred final time with the water going into the homes by the bridge.
‘I’ll say that the overall opinion round right here is that Johnny [Mr Price] has carried out an excellent job.’
One other Kingsland villager, Maurice Evans, stated: ‘Beforehand, it could have been within the homes. I do know what John Worth did… however it has helped.
‘Since he is carried out it these homes haven’t flooded. However everybody has their very own opinions.’
The work, which he carried out in 2020 and 2021, in a self-devised plan to cease the river flooding his fields and close by homes at occasions of heavy rainfall, breached laws
Pictured: Police and Atmosphere Company stand on a bridge over the River Lugg, Kingsland
Native resident Richard Collishaw added: ‘There’s lots of distinction down on the backside of the river by the bridge.
‘It seems very tidy now and I am positive the timber are going to develop again.
‘I feel it is stopped the river cottages being flooded. There was lots of noise about it, however I feel he did an excellent job.’
Even his native parish council got here out in help in 2021, with Councillor Sebastian Bowen saying: ‘The truth is it [the flooding] is way improved.
‘Individuals have been fairly impressed with what has been carried out. Individuals have stopped and stated it was an excellent job.’
The Atmosphere Company beforehand stated the harm was one of many worst circumstances of riverside destruction it had ever seen, which had a ‘devastating’ impact on wildlife.
However when requested lately whether or not Mr Worth had alleviated flooding and what the long run affect to the river had been, they refused to deal with the query.
As an alternative, they stated in a press release: ‘Following a prosecution by Pure England and the Atmosphere Company, Mr Worth was discovered responsible of destruction of a part of the river Lugg and sentenced to 12 months in jail.
Pictured: John Worth along with his son John on the bankside of the River Lugg in 2020
Aerial view of the river financial institution cleared by Mr Worth which villagers stated stopped flooding
‘He was additionally ordered to pay prosecution prices of £600,000 and ordered to hold out a variety of actions to revive the river he broken.
‘Pure England and the Atmosphere Company welcomed the seriousness with which the court docket handled the extreme and lasting harm to the river Lugg, which destroyed habitats and wildlife on a stretch of one of many nation’s most unspoiled rivers.’
Consultants beforehand stated Mr Worth’s claims he was saving close by houses from flooding was with out basis.
Helen Stace, former chief government of Herefordshire Wildlife Belief, stated Worth had destroyed a web site of particular scientific curiosity – an ‘enchanting treelined attain’ with ‘immense’ worth for wildlife.
Later, Andrew Nixon, conservation senior supervisor of belief, stated in December 2020: ‘Eradicating all bankside vegetation and scraping out the riverbed and banks will trigger an enormous enhance within the velocity the water strikes by way of the river and will increase the flood threat downstream.’
The Atmosphere Company, whose duties embrace managing the dangers from flooding, additionally insisted his actions had carried out nothing to stop flooding.
Pictured: Police and Atmosphere Company stand on a bridge over the River Lugg
Pictured: The river Lugg in Kingsland, Shropshire
Martin Quine, the company’s place supervisor for Herefordshire, stated in April final 12 months: ‘Whereas Mr Worth’s justification for the works was to assist stop flooding to native properties, his actions didn’t have any flood prevention profit.
‘The destruction of riverbanks shouldn’t be applicable flood administration.
‘It will be important that the choose recognised that the works considerably weakened flood prevention measures fairly than improved them.’
The Herefordshire Wildlife Belief, which additionally predicted on the time the scouring of the riverbank wouldn’t alleviate flooding, additionally declined to remark about ‘what the Atmosphere Company could or could not have stated or carried out’.
However a spokesman stated: ‘Herefordshire Wildlife Belief advocates for pure flood administration throughout our landscapes which suggests permitting, or restoring, rivers or landscapes to perform extra naturally with the outcome that the circulation of water into rivers is slowed, the circulation inside rivers is slowed, and the panorama typically holds extra water.
‘The target is to restrict the quantity, and velocity, of water inside river channels which minimises flooding general.
‘Pure Flood Administration methods embrace leaky dams, cross-slope hedgerows, riverside woodland and attenuation ponds and scrapes.’
Consequently it stays unclear if there was any official research into the affect of the work to see whether or not Mr Worth’s actions have alleviated, worsened or had no impact on flooding.
