Construction teams will begin upgrading a water recycling centre just outside North Petherton this month, which will see updated equipment treating excess water flowing through the system.

The work, undertaken by Wessex Water, will allow more than 800,000 litres of sewer water to be housed in an underground tank. The increased storage will operate automatically to help reduce the number of storm overflows. The storage will be housed below ground on land next to the centre and will keep more mixed rain run-off and wastewater in the tank at the centre before it is treated and safely returned to the environment. The project is expected to take around 10 months to complete.

Earlier this year, a major incident was declared in Somerset after heavy thunderstorms caused severe flash floods and mudslides across the county. The floods saw entire villages cut off, with people ordered to leave their homes as water levels reached 4ft in the worst affected areas.