WORK to raise Worcester's New Road under a major flooding protection scheme will go ahead next year, it has emerged.

Worcestershire County Council says the big revamp - which will see the three-lane carriageway raised to stop water cascading across it - will be done in 2017.

Back in 2014 the road became impassable after the main city bridge closed, with a temporary shuttle bus being used to ferry people across from St John's.

Because of its location overlooking the River Severn New Road has always been vulnerable to flood, including the cricket ground.

Bosses at County Hall are being asked to be careful when they do the work next year to avoid congestion gridlock.

Councillor Richard Udall, chairman of the Labour group, raised it during a full council meeting.

He said: "I know it's been looked at for some time, but can we be told when this work is happening and what (the council) is thinking of doing to mitigate the inevitable congestion?"

Councillor Anthony Blagg, the deputy leader, told him the work will be done "next year" and insisted the benefits will be huge.

"The plans are being looked at for New Road outside the cricket ground, in 2014 when we had the last floods a bus had to be used to get people over the bridge," he said.

"So we'll be raising the road so unless there is a once in a 1,000 years flood, that road will be kept open."

More details will be released when the plans have been finalised.

The cash for the scheme is coming from a £700,000 Government grant which was handed to Worcestershire's Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) as part of a blueprint to help the economy.

Worcestershire's great floods of 2007 saw 4,500 properties across the county damaged and after that £12.5 million was pumped into new defences, including Worcester's Hylton Road bund.

The last serious event was then February 2014, when just 163 properties were affected.

We revealed last year how 20,000 properties are still 'at risk' of floods around Worcestershire, and there are still 1,700 official flood zones.

Despite the extra protections since 2007 Worcester-based flooding expert Mary Dhonau, chief executive of the 'Know Your Flood Risk' group, has called it "frightening" how so many householders lack knowledge about the risks they face.