An engineering chief cast his eye over a much-celebrated flood alleviation scheme on Wednesday.

A number of homes in Steeple Bumpstead were flooded in 2007 and 2009 when Bumpstead Brook and Helions Brook burst their banks.

In a bid to prevent a repeat, the £4 million Steeple Bumpstead flood alleviation scheme was launched, with work beginning on behalf of the Environment Agency in February last year.

The project, which has involved re-profiling and re-sectioning the channel along part of Helions Brook and a section of Bumpstead Brook, is the first in the region to be included in This is Civil Engineering - a national initiative to showcase the importance of civil engineering.

Six river crossings, including footbridges, road bridges and a ford, have also been replaced with new crossings.

Following the project’s recognition, Nick Baveystock, director general of the Institution of Civil Engineers, visited.

As a result of the scheme, no homes in the village were affected by February’s storms.

The Rev Adrian Burr, chairman of the village’s flood action committee, said residents could finally sleep easy at night.

He said: “The scheme has very much succeeded in doing what it was supposed to do.

“Not one house was flooded during the recent floods and it has made a great difference to the lives of everyone in the village.”