INNOVATIVE work by the National Trust and Exmoor farmers to install natural flood defences on the charity’s Holnicote Estate meant the villages of Allerford and Bossington escaped heavy flooding caused by Storm Angus last week.

The estate has been the site of a Government research project since 2009, exploring how natural flood management measures can reduce flooding on the rivers Aller and Horner.

These helped slow water flow and protect 90 homes in the area, deemed at high risk from flooding, when Storm Angus swept over Exmoor National Park and rivers upstream from Bossington swelled rapidly, rising 50cm in just two hours.

Photo: Nigel Hester / National Trust