Severn Trent has completed sewer upgrade works in Stroud town centre – helping to protect homes and business from future flooding.

The works were carried out as part of a £25m investment by the water company, including replacing the old Victorian sewers which had served the area.

The major project included installing four miles of new enlarged pipes, as well as separating surface water from the waste network to boost capacity and reduce river spills, particularly during heavy rain.

As part of the overall scheme, Severn Trent constructed one of its largest ever storm overflow storage tanks to also reduce potential flooding and spills.

Project Manager Pierce Meguer said: “We want to thank Stroud residents for their understanding as our teams have worked to complete the town centre part of this scheme.

“We do understand how disruptive the necessary roadworks been for residents during the project, but they have been essential to ensure the safety of our workers and the public.

“The project has seen out teams install four miles of new pipes - including upgrading many of the old Victorian sewers – to provide much-needed extra capacity for Stroud, helping protect homes and businesses from blockages and future flooding.”

The final works to complete the wider scheme should now be completed by early in the new year.

Pierce added: “There have been some delay which is understandable with a project of this size, but we are now aiming to have everything completed by early next year.”

Janine Billington, Community Communications Officer for the Stroud project said: “We want to say an enormous thanks to the people of Stroud for their support and understanding during this huge and important project.

“It’s great news we have finished in the town centre and the final works needed to complete the whole project will take place be outside of the town, so will be far less disruptive to people.

“We have recently held meetings with local people and we will continue to issue updates, so they are kept fully up to date.”

The huge Stroud storm overflow storage tank is some 25m deep by 25m wide. It is concrete-lined and was built in conjunction with partners Galliford Try.

It has a capacity of 7,400m3 – the equivalent of three Olympic sized swimming pools, or over 24,500 bathtubs of water.