THE work of the emergency services over the weekend in relation to the heavy rain and flooding was incredible, but most of the issues seem to have come down to poor decision making.

Extra control room staff were drafted in at Hereford and Worcester Fire to keep on top of the amount of calls coming in from people stranded due to the floods.

36 drivers attempted to cross flooded roads and ended up requiring the assistance of emergency staff, despite constant warnings not to risk it.

This naive behaviour from motorists could not only cost them their own lives as well as those in the car, depending on how deep the water and how close to rivers etcetera, but it also prevents the emergency services from dealing with other matters.

Three people required saving from their car which had become stranded in flood waters in Green Lane, Droitwich, on Saturday and it took police officers and dogs as well as firefighters and ambulance crews to save them.

All from one badly thought out decision to attempt to drive through water.

After hearing that the brook had burst its banks near Tesco Express in Martley Road, Worcester, on Saturday afternoon, I headed down there to get some video and try speak to some motorists.

One told me he’d contemplated trying to cross, many others were attempting it successfully, but decided against it and turned around.

He said it wasn’t worth it in his small car. But did say that with queues building up, tentative drivers were getting beeped at as they contemplated crossing and some were essentially being bullied into making the risky plunge.

The irony of course, is if one of these cars had then become stuck, all the cars would have been held up a lot longer waiting for the emergency services to come to the rescue.

Another interesting point relates to the photo of a modern-looking flooded estate, which I believe is in Hagley, taken by the fire service and posted on Twitter.

How did such an estate get approved when it was clearly a severe flood risk? The rain on Saturday was persistent but it wasn’t the worst we’ve ever seen and yet an entire neighbourhood of people were cut off.