WISBECH residents are being urged to sign up to a new flood warning service as the town’s last sirens are taken down.

The Environment Agency have visited more than 1,500 home since March 16 to encourage people to sign up to Floodline Warnings Direct. The free service sends a direct message when flooding is expected via telephone, e-mail, text message or fax.

Wisbech’s two remaining sires, on Orchards Park Primary School and Thomas Clarkson Community College, will have been removed by early next week.

Laura Harrison, the Environment Agency’s community engagement officer, said: “People in Wisbech used to have to rely partly on flood sirens to give them prior warning of flooding.

“However, new technology means we can now offer our Floodline Warnings Direct service. The service means we are able to give people in at-risk areas more advanced warnings of flooding, giving them more time to act to protect themselves and their families.

“We have made people aware that the sirens are no longer in use. Improvements in defences mean that the risk of flooding in Wisbech is low, but the risk can never be completely removed. People should therefore make sure they are prepared and know what to do if the worst happens.”

Ms Harrison said that even though just two of the four original sirens had existed in the town they had not been used since major improvements were made to flood defences in the 1980s.

Improvements to the defences on the North and South Brinks, which were completed last year, have reduced the risk of flooding to 17,000 homes and businesses.