A BARRIER which could save part of Abingdon from suffering flood devastation again has won "all the approvals" it needs to go ahead.

Vale of White Horse District Council leader Matt Barber has revealed that the smaller of two schemes planned to protect the town from the wrath of rainfall is nearing the all-clear stage.

A permanent barrier is set to be installed at St Helens Mill near St Helen's Church, as part of the Abingdon Flood Alleviation Scheme.

He said: "It looks as if it's got all the approvals - we will hold a meeting with the residents to go through the details of the scheme and then get planning permission. But it looks as if it's over the line.

"The River Ock has a big impact on Abingdon - in 2007 it was really awful stuff."

He said that many people in the town are "absolutely terrified" that the proposed Oxford Alleviation Channel, which is currently being planned by the Environment Agency to take water away from the city centre, could push Oxford's flooding problem further downstream.

The Environment Agency's scheme would see a 7km channel dug from Botley Road in Oxford to Sandford-on-Thames, at a cost of £120m.

Mr Barber said: "We originally joined in with the scheme because we persuaded the EA to make it the Oxford and Abingdon scheme, not just Oxford. It was a bureaucratic victory. We set aside about £2m for our contribution, which for a small council is quite a lot.

"There are some residents in the Vale who for understandable reasons might not see the benefits of the scheme but see all the potential pain, but I recognise all the huge benefits this could potentially bring.

"When the rain comes down the whole county grinds to a halt."

Mr Barber revealed that the Vale has commissioned independent research at a cost of about £10,000 to go alongside the EA's report, to look into more specific effects of the scheme on Abingdon and the surrounding villages.

Mr Barber said: "We have done that very deliberately following meetings with residents just to reassure them. This is not to prove them right or scupper the scheme - we genuinely want to know what the impact is.

"I'm convinced there's not going to be any impact downstream, but I'm not a hydrologist with scientific understanding. Lots of it comes down to the detail of the scheme.

"If there is a problem, an Oxford flood scheme is still vitally important. It will just mean we have to come up with a different solution to the one proposed."

The St Helens Mill area is one of 29 listed on the Vale's website under 'flood alleviation schemes and flood defence work', and the only one to still be on-going.

It is not yet clear how much the scheme could cost.

A larger project called the Abingdon Ock Retention Scheme is still being looked into as part of the EA's flood prevention in Abingdon, alongside research into the River Stert.

In July 2007, 661 homes in Abingdon were affected by flooding.