The Coal Authority is continuing work to upgrade pumping stations across the UK.

The latest project saw a Brotherton Marsh near Doncaster enhanced with new pumps, panel, valves and pipework.

Brotherton Marsh in Selby controls water levels to protect agricultural land which has been affected by subsidence from historical coal mining. To enable arable farming to take place on the surrounding fields, excess water is pumped, via a channel system, into the nearby River Aire.

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These improvement works included replacing four pumps in two separate chambers, the control panel, building services, and all the valves and pipework in the scheme's compounds.

Tom Hams, assistant project manager, said: "This is the first time the facility has undergone a major overhaul and it should be at least 25 years before it needs another.

"The four submersible pumps, which can each deliver a flow rate of up to 150 litres a second, are operated when the fields become waterlogged after heavy rainfall or if the river floods.

"There will also be energy savings, thanks to the variable speed drives on the new pumps, but we won't know exactly what these will be until the station has been running for a while."

JN Bentley Ltd delivered the scheme, as well as a further project in Doncaster, under a £700,000 contract.

(CM/JG)